He was extracting materials from the debris when THE WHISTLER arrived at the site of his demolished house. Jude Enyeribeyem lost the two-story building he had erected on land acquired from the traditional landowners (omoniles).
The demolition occurred as part of recent actions by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) to clear structures in the FESTAC Phase 2 area of Lagos State that it said were encroaching on designated zones.
While Enyeribeyem and some others affected see the demolitions as unfair or politically targeted at Igbos, the FHA contends it is simply enforcing urban planning laws and reclaiming government land that was occupied illegally.
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Enyeribeyem shared the perspective of some Igbos who lost properties, saying that the demolition selectively impacted them.
Recall that the 2023 Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections in the state were characterised by reported cases of violence, massive low turnout of voters, voter intimidation and voter suppression. There were reports of violence in Amuwo Odofin (which FESTAC Town is under), Oshodi-Isolo, Ojo LGAs, among others.
There were also lots of ethnic slurs before, during and after the elections, which led to rising tensions in the state.
Similarly, after his re-election in June for a third term as Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, in his acceptance speech at the inauguration of the 10th Lagos Assembly proposed new property and business ownership laws in the state.
The Speaker noted that Lagos is a Yoruba land, adding that the essence of the laws was to protect the indigenes of the state. His statement was interpreted as an agenda against non-indigenes, particularly Igbos.
“Lagos is a Yoruba land as against the assertions of some people that it is a no man’s land.
“Therefore, part of our legislative agenda is to ensure the translation of laws passed by this House to the Yoruba language,” Obasa had said.
“We also aim at achieving our collective goals of creating a robust legislative framework that protects the interest of our people. Going forward in this wise, we are going to employ all legislative instruments for the support of the indigenes of Lagos.
“There would be laws and resolutions in the areas of economy and commerce, property and titles, and we will reverse all that is reversible to protect the interest of the indigenes,” he had noted.
However, the view that the demolition in FESTAC and Abule Ado is targeted at Igbos may not hold water because FHA is a federal agency of government.
The agency had marked 677 homes for complete demolition and 744 for partial demolition, citing various infractions as the reason.
Since November when the demolition exercise started, lots of houses have been demolished in FESTAC Town and Abule Ado areas of the state.
One of the reasons given was that some of the houses were located on designated roads. Enyeribeyem, however, said he knew some houses in the area which were not built on roads but were still demolished.
He said that the right thing FHA should have done instead of demolition was to ask owners of the demolished houses to pay for contravention if there was any at all.
“Why demolish the building? A building that people are already living in. And after some time you’re going to sell that particular land,” he queried in a dejected tone.
“This is an Igbo-dominated area. It’s almost 99.9 per cent Igbo dominated. If it’s my friend, he would say there’s a price to pay for being the opposition. Maybe that’s the price Igbos are paying for being in the opposition. But to me, this is not necessary. It’s people’s hard-earned money. And considering the economy we’re operating in Nigeria, it’s not necessary. There’s an alternative to this. But since they’ve done their will, God will judge!”
Enyeribeyem who has resigned himself to his fate lamented that he can only cry to God.
According to him, the reason given by FHA was that his house was located on the road.
“By 10:30 a.m. I received a call that FHA was here with their bulldozers and they were demolishing houses. The reason they gave for demolishing this place was that it was on the road. Not that it was on the canal or whatever. And from the plan we were shown before, this place is not on the road. I don’t know,” he told THE WHISTLER.
“Who are we going to cry to, only to God! They knoweth the reason behind whatever they do. All I’m saying is this: now they’ve demolished the houses. What are they going to do with the land? is it not to sell it?”
Enyeribeyem expressed disappointment at the presumed owners of the land (Omoniles) who he said kept quiet while the demolition was going on.
He insinuated that the silence of the Omoniles was complicit to the demolition.
“The truth about it is that they said that this place belonged to Omonile when we bought it. (But) after some years, FHA said that it belongs to them.”
He explained that FHA had gone to court to lay claim to the land, but added that he is not sure if the court has decided on the case before the agency came and demolished some houses in the area.
“When the houses were being demolished, I expected Omoniles to have asked FHA to stop, insisting that the land belongs to them. But all of them kept quiet. It’s as if it was a planned deal – allow these people to buy it, after some time we’ll come and claim it.”
“Are they not aware when this place was a swamp? Were they not aware that there was no road here? And waited until people sandfilled it with their hard-earned money.”
“It’s not fair,” he added.
Management May Consider Alternative Settlement
Meanwhile, FHA recently said that it might consider re-integrating some affected houses in the area.
This is following appeals received from affected individuals.
The Managing Director of FHA, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who briefed newsmen after meeting with stakeholders stressed that the agency would not compromise its professional standards in this regard.
He said: “We have started receiving various appeals from affected individuals. As a responsive administration with human feelings, management may have to consider alternative settlement, but must not compromise professional standards.”
Represented by FHA’s Executive Director, Project Implementation, Engr. Chinoso Omoke, the managing director while giving conditions for the re-integration said: “Such structures must have passed integrity tests. Where original allottees’ land have been taken, compensation must be fully paid, re-survey carried out, and penalties paid before we can integrate them into our estate.”
He further stated: “May I also state that the exercise is ongoing and not limited to 9th Avenue alone. We are entering all parts of FESTAC Town, including all ours estates in Lagos and across the nation.”
Before the demolition, FHA had alleged encroachment and illegal development in the area.
According to the agency, demolition notices were served on house owners in August.
The South-West Zonal Manager of the agency, Akintola Olagbemiro, had said that as a result of illegal development, developers were turning the place into a slum.
He said: “After so many years of trying to get into the property belonging to FHA, which we labelled as Festac Phase 2, there has been encroachment and illegal development and it’s turning the place into a slum.
“We are trying to see how best we can resolve it and make people live in a more serene environment. Unfortunately, there have been cases of illegal developers and land grabbers.”
Your reporting is very biased and dangerous. You’re fanning the same hate flame my dear.