Day Ishefun people asked Governor Fashola to answer them

They trekked from under the flyover at the centre of the state capital, Ikeja, singing and repeating only one song: “Today, today, Fashola must answer us.”  Among them were young school children in their uniform, housewives, nursing mothers, able-bodied, jobless men and artisans, carrying placards.They marched through Obafemi Awolowo Way and covered a distance to […]

They trekked from under the flyover at the centre of the state capital, Ikeja, singing and repeating only one song: “Today, today, Fashola must answer us.”  Among them were young school children in their uniform, housewives, nursing mothers, able-bodied, jobless men and artisans, carrying placards.
They marched through Obafemi Awolowo Way and covered a distance to the secretariat.  Some of their placards read, “LASG, shelter is a right, not a privilege,”  “Fashola, it is honourable to honour your promise,”  “Fashola give and it shall be given to you,”  “Ishefun People are still homeless,”  and  so many others.
Many among the Ishefun people looked haggard, their children and women appeared troubled as they looked restless. The children were made to sit on bare floor eating what should be their breakfast at about 11 am on the day. The men were standing on their legs singing relentlessly for hours and as at 4.30 pm when our reporter was about to leave the scene, they appeared tired. All of them sat on the bare floor waiting for any top government official to attend to them.
On Tuesday, the next day, when our reporter checked the governor’s gate, the people of Ishefun were still around, waiting to see the governor. They had slept at the gate hoping to see the governor but they were disappointed. The governor did not come out to see them and no government official talked to them. As at evening that Tuesday, the Ishefun people left the premises in pair as a hopeless people.
Oodua Trust investigations into the issue revealed that  sometimes in  November 2008, around 10.30am owners of houses at Ishefun community in Ayobo-Ipaja Local Council Development Area of Lagos State were caught unawares, as many of them had gone to work when a task force from the Lagos State Physical Development Authority (LASPHYDA), swooped on the community, demolishing no fewer than 50 houses identified as illegal by the authorities.
The land, as the findings showed, was under the state government acquisition and that many people who acquired plots of land within the scheme could not gain access due to the illegal occupants who encroached on the land. Thus, the government gave  a directive for all illegal structures on the acquired land to be removed.
According to a high ranking official of the State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, who pleaded for anonymity, the entire houses demolished by LASPHYDA at Ishefun Community did not have development permit and were built on the land belonging to the state’s Ministry of Housing.
It was gathered that the state had been warning the illegal occupants to vacate the land since 2004 through several notices served on them before the final demolition in November 2008. Besides, the government official stressed that, in 2006, partial enforcement was carried out on the land to let the illegal occupants know that government was serious about the demolition, adding that they remained adamant.
The government official stated that after the partial demolition in 2006, some of the illegal occupants, whose houses were partially demolished, went back to houses the houses after LASPHYDA men had left and government returned to the place and brought down the illegal structures.
Corroborating government’s explanation, one of the affected landlords, Mr Sefiu Adeyemi, confirmed that they had been warned severally but argued they were also talking to the government through some of the officials about their predicaments. This, he said, prompted all landlords in the community contributing about N50,000 each, to sort out their allocation problem at the state secretariat.
“We were directed by the chairman of our landlords’ association to pay into an Oceanic Bank account under the name, Idi-Oparun Community Association. The account number was 1751701700427. Some of us struggled to get the amount  paid into the bank account and some were about to settle the payment when the task force came and bulldozed our buildings. Since then, we have been living like refugees in Lagos,” Adeyemi narrated.
Our correspondent recalls that last year, people of Ishefun community were at the seat of Lagos state government and protested demolition of their houses. According to them, the demolition exercise affected over 3,000 residents and schools.  They waited for few hours and when no government official attended to them, they left only to return in February. They came along with their cooking utensils and mats, spending three consecutive days at the governor’s gate before Governor Babatunde Fashola attended to them.
Findings revealed that at the meeting with the governor, Fashola promised to look into the issue and asked for two weeks to enable him carry out a proper investigation into the matter. Before the meeting came to an end, the governor set up a 13-member committee, comprising some leaders among the Ishefun people, including the head of the community, Chief Aminu Oke.
The committee headed by the state’s Solicitor-General, Mr Lawal Pedro, had concluded its work and it recommended that alternative accommodation be provided for the affected landlords and their dependants. It was gathered at the governor’s office that the committee had submitted its report but government has kept quiet on the issue.
Meanwhile, the committee’s recommendation had been leaked to the people who had looked forward to Governor Fashola to invite them and give them keys to some of the available government flats scattered around the state.  As they had waited for long without hearing from the governor’s office, a fortnight ago, the people returned to the governor’s gate asking the state to implement the committee’s recommendation.
In an interview with our correspondent, Mr. Augustine Akomolafe explained that Governor Fashola had, on February 9, 2010, the community to give him two weeks to investigate the issue. He faulted the governor’s inability to adhere to his promise.
“We have counted extra six months in a situation where the governor promised just two weeks.  We have been living like area boys since our houses were demolished, our homes scattered by this government. We have nowhere to lay our heads at night. Some of us sleep in uncompleted buildings. We should not be treated this way, after all somebody sold the land on which we built our houses to us. Government should think about our children and answer us. We are suffering, Fashola should answer us,” Akomolafe pleaded.
Another affected landlady, Mrs Bola Yama pleaded with the governor asking that Fashola should put himself in the position of one of the affected landlords whose family could not live together as one family since November 2008 when their house was demolished.  “I know our governor is a God-fearing man. I’m pleading he look into our problem. So many families have been affected by the demolition. Something has to be done because some of us who have grown up daughters are afraid of what could happen to our daughters that are managing in other peoples homes,” she said.