Residents raise alarm over planned forceful eviction from Lagos community

Over 300 residents/families of Victory Park Estate sitting on about 33 hectares of land in Osapa London, along Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene over plans to evict them from their properties.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos, their solicitor, Mr. Benjamin Atebe urged Buhari to call concerned authorities to order, as they had brought upon the people untold hardship, anguish and pain, due to a combination of corporate fraud, unbridled abuse of power, and deliberately orchestrated inhuman treatment.

He said: “As far back as 2003, some of us bought into Victory Park Estate land to develop our houses, after doing legal diligence and confirming at Lagos State Land Registry that the title to the land that was in the name of Knight Rook Limited was free from any encumbrance.

“The legal interpretation of this was that the title was good, no mortgage, pledge and charge etc. had been obtained against it by any financial institution or any other company.

“From 2003 till about June 2017, the present homeowners continued buying into the estate, developing and living in the estate without molestation from anyone. They annually paid Land Use Charge to Lagos State, after registering the various titles to our properties.

“To our amazement, in June 2017, we all woke up to see a publication that Knight Rook Limited, the owner of the global C of O over Victory Park Estate was in receivership over a loan one of the companies, Grant Properties Limited, allegedly took from Sterling Bank, Skye Bank now Polaris Bank, Wema Bank and FCMB and used Knight Rook Limited with its shares as security; that the companies had defaulted in paying, while the said loan, now an eligible bank assets, was subsequently sold to AMCON in 2011 or 2012.

“We are making a passionate appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Inspector General of Police, and the leadership of AMCON to place premium on the current administration’s anti-corruption mantra and right these wrongs by calling AMCON to order.”

(Credit: The Guardian)