A retired teacher, Madam Lydia Ebunoluwa has cried out for justice after her house was allegedly demolished by suspected land grabbers.
Ebunoluwa, lamented that she is homeless and in dire need of justice over the illegal demolition of her only house at 7 Church Close in Katangowa area of Abule Egba, noticed the rubble had been overgrown with weeds.
The 77-year-old woman who retired as teacher in 1995 now sleeps in a kiosk near the popular Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Agbala Itura at Ile Epo bus stop along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
Narrating her ordeal to The Nation, Ebunoluwa, a native of Efon Alaaye in Ekiti State, said her travails started in 2016 when some persons brought notice from a local government asking her to pull down the building within 48 days for violating building setback regulations, despite the fact that the house was not sited near the road.
She however said the concerned council authorities denied sending any notice to her, noting that the land grabbers might have contrived the said notice to intimidate her.
She said she suspected the land grabbers were conniving with some state officials, adding that she had made several entreaties to the police to save the situation but to no avail.
”My traducers had been disturbing and harassing me to the extent that they stopped me from finishing work on a soak away facility I was constructing in my house.
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‘’When I was alerted to the unlawful demolition on November 29, 2018, I quickly rushed home only to discover the building had been pulled down without caterpillar. I also saw the hoodlums who carried out the demolition drinking and rejoicing in front of my property.
‘’I reported the matter to the police at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) at Panti, Yaba, Lagos and some suspects were arrested but they have since been released.
‘’Since then, they have not been able to come back to the property while I cannot also live in the house because it has been destroyed and reduced to rubble.
‘’ I worked for 28 years as a teacher in various schools in Agege Local Government Area. I retired in 1995 at Orile Agege Primary School with a N13,000 monthly pension that is not enough to take care of my needs. I had been taking care of myself from the rent I collected from my tenants until the house was demolished. I want justice, so my house can be reconstructed by the same people who attempted to annex it by force.
The septuagenarian who has since resorted to selling pure (satchet) water in front of her wooden shelter said her two surviving children had no job and lacked the means to get a better accommodation for her.
‘’Life has been very unfair to me. I lost the only building I spent my retirement benefits to build. I was collecting rent from the house until it was pulled down by some lawless land grabbers. As you can see I sit here all day selling pure (sachet) water to passers-by to eke a living. ‘’
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