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Tag: Otodo Gbame

  • Lagos faults Amnesty’s claim on demolition

    Lagos faults Amnesty’s claim on demolition

    The Lagos State Government yesterday described the Amnesty International (AI’s) report as “bias, inaccuracies and exaggerations.”

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy Steve Ayorinde said the inter-ethnic clashes that led to the burning of the settlement has nothing to do with the government.

    Ayorinde said: “The main area of focus in the report – Ilado (which visitors to the State often refer to as Otodo Gbame) has always been a private land and subject of a law suit, which has been decided in favour of the family owners. Otodo Gbame was one of the 39 waterfront settlements that took Lagos State to court over its plan to rid its prime waterfront areas of illegal shanties that constitute security and environmental threat to the public. The court judgement in favour of the plaintiff has since been appealed with related applications for stay of action.

    “Lagos State Government insists that Otodo Gbame was used as a temporary fishing outpost. The fishermen had their permanent homes in Badagry, Cotonou (Benin Republic) and Lome (Togo). Indeed, many of such people have returned to their homes since the unfortunate fire incident of November 2016. The rest should be encouraged to do likewise rather than spur them on to play the victim, fight legal owners of the land or to demonise govt.

    “The Lagos State House of Assembly did carry out an independent investigation and published its findings, stating clearly that Otodo Gbame was a temporary fishing outpost on the waterways which wanted to illegally appropriate the land that welcomed them on a temporary basis. It is an illegal settlement that should not be allowed to use emotionalism and sensationalism to forcibly take over a private property.

    “Lagos State Government has no interest in the land whatsoever since it’s a private property. The interest of the state is to rid the prime waterways of shanties and illegal structures, particularly when security intelligence has shown clearly that they are either safe havens or gateways for armed robbers, kidnappers and militants.

    “Lagos State Government sees a correlation in the reduction of kidnappings through the waterways and creeks of Lagos Island, Ikorodu, Epe, Ojo and the removal of illegal shanties from our prime waterfront areas.

    “The position of Lagos State Government has been consistent. While government is demonstrably compassionate to the plight of the less privileged and the urban poor and has continued to engage them in useful talks in line with international conventions and treaties, we urge Amnesty International UK to appreciate the fact that government was elected to protect the people and promote livable environment.

    Our report, by AI

    Amnesty International (AI) said no fewer than 11 persons died and 30,000 displaced in Otodo Gbame.

    The international group in its report called on Federal Government to halt a violent, unlawful campaign of demolitions and forced evictions of waterfront communities in Lagos State.

    The AI’s report tagged, The Human Cost of a Megacity: Forced Evictions of the Urban Poor in Lagos, detailed repeated forced evictions of the Otodo-Gbame and Ilubirin communities carried out since March 2016 without any consultation, adequate notice, compensation or alternative housing being offered to those affected.

    Some evictees drowned as they fled police gunfire, while at least one was shot dead.

    “These ruthless forced evictions are just the most recent examples of a practice that has been going on in Nigeria for over a decade in complete defiance of international law,” AI’s Country Director Osai Ojigho said.

    Ojigho added: “For the residents of these deprived communities, many of whom rely on their daily fish catch to make a living, the waterfront represents home, work and survival. Forced evictions mean they lose everything – their livelihoods, their possessions and in some cases their lives.

    “The Lagos state authorities must halt these attacks on poor communities who are being punished for the state’s urban planning failures. The instability and uncertainty created by forced evictions is making their lives a misery as they are left completely destitute.”

    AI said it spoke to 97 evicted people as part of its research, all of whom told a similar story of being made homeless and losing almost all their possessions.

  • Lagos appeals verdict on resettlement of Otodo Gbame community

    The Lagos State Government has faulted a Lagos High Court verdict which declared illegal, the demolition of Otodo Gbame Community and some other riverine settlements around Lekki.

    In a Notice of Appeal filed at the Appeal Court, in Lagos, the government said Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo’s June 21 judgement was capable of encouraging illegality.

    The judgement, it noted, visited the constitution.

    The government claimed that the high court erred in law and misdirected itself when it made far-reaching decisions that conflicted with the facts of the matter placed before it.

    Under the first ground of appeal, the government said Justice Onigbanjo erred when he held that the demolition was illegal when there was no demolition in Otodo Gbame before the case was filed.

    According to the government, there was a fire in Otodo Gbame caused by violent clash between two rival cult groups. The fire destroyed the community with no residents and property remaining because the burnt shanties were built with corrugated iron sheets, woods and bamboos.

    It said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who visited the community after the incident stopped the reconstruction of the shanties and directed all those living on the riverine areas to leave for security reasons.

    The riverine areas, the government said, were known to harbour illegal bunkers, kidnappers and robbers.

    The governor’s directive, the appellant said, according to government, was pursuant to Chapter 2, Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    The appellant accused the residents of visiting the governor’s directive which led to the demolition of Otodo Gbame and other communities when the case was referred to mediation by Justice Onigbanjo.

    The appellant claimed: “The declaration of the lower court that the demolition of March 17, 2017 is illegal and unconstitutional is misplaced and one-sided without considering the violation of the same order of court by the respondents. The demolition was to return both parties to status quo.”

    Under in ground two, the appellant said the high court erred when it held that the government should have consulted with the communities before any further evictions, and also compensate them for the demolition of their properties. The appellant claimed that in as much as Chapter 4 of the Constitution provides for fundamental rights, some rights contained provisos that made such rights not sacrosanct and absolute.

    It said: “There are abundance of uncontroverted evidence before the lower court that the structures built along riverine/swampy areas of the state are without building permit as required under the Urban and Regional Development Planning Law.

    “The respondents have constructed shanties and illegal structures without the requisite building permit/approval and the rights under the Constitution do not permit breach of a law or exempt anybody whosoever from building without first obtaining requisite approval. The respondents are squatters and deliberately failed to put the issue of title in contention.”

  • Otodo Gbame residents’ eviction unlawful, says court

    Lagos High Court yesterday declared unconstitutional restrained the state government’s eviction of settlers of some waterfront communities around Lekki.

    It restrained the government from carrying out such acts in future.

    Justice Surajudeen Onigbangbo made the orders in his judgment in a suit brought last year by 33 applicants on behalf of themselves and other residents of the settlements.

    The settlements include Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku, Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, the governor and the Commissioner of Police are the first, second, third and fourth respondents.

    The judge also ordered the parties to begin talks on how to resolve the relocation of the residents.

    The suit was initiated following the settlers’ eviction and the demolition of the settlements.

    Delivery judgement before a packed courtroom, Justice Onigbanjo held that the case was properly before him.

    He observed that the gulf between the parties was not as wide as they made it to appear, adding that there was no dispute over the ownership of the land.

    “The land occupied by the applicants is under the control and the management of the executive governor of the state. From the affidavit evidence made available to me, the applicants never claimed ownership of the land, but have over the years settled on the land. It will be wrong for them to be forcibly evicted from a land they have been on for several years,” Justice Onigbanjo said.

    He added: “The respondents’ failure to provide alternative settlements before embarking on the forcible eviction of the applicants is unconstitutional. Both parties are hereby ordered to carry out proper consultation on how to resolve the relocation of the applicants.

    “The respondents are hereby restrained from further carrying out evictions of the applicants from the settlements, if alternative settlements are not made available.”

    Before the judgement, Justice Onigbanjo cautioned Megan Chapman, co-director of Justice Empowerment Initiatives, a community-based legal and empowerment organisation, which represents the residents of Otodo Gbame.

    The judge on April 25 said Chapman wrote him a letter, details of which he did not divulge.

  • Court declares Otodo Gbame eviction unlawful

    Court declares Otodo Gbame eviction unlawful

    A Lagos High Court in Igbosere on Wednesday restrained the Lagos State Government from carrying out further evictions of settlers of several waterfront communities, declaring it as unconstitutional.

    Justice Surajudeen Onigbangbo gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit brought last year by 33 applicants on behalf of themselves and other residents of the settlements.

    The settlements include Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku, Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, the governor and the Commissioner of Police are the first, second, third and fourth respondents in the matter.

    The judge also ordered both parties to begin talks on how to resolve the relocation of the residents.

    The suit was initiated following the forcible eviction of the settlers and the repeated demolition of the settlements allegedly by the government.

    Judgment in the suit stalled since April 12 last year, when the court suo moto (on its own motion) raised the issue of its jurisdiction.

    Justice Onigbanjo ruled that the matter was properly before the court.

    The judge observed, among others, that the gulf between both parties wasn’t as insurmountable as they made it appear and that there was no dispute over the ownership of the land.

    “The land occupied by the applicants is under the control and the management of the executive governor of the state.

    “From the affidavit evidence made available to me, the applicants never claimed ownership of the land, but have over the years settled on the land. It will be wrong for them to be forcibly evicted from a land they have been on for several years,” Justice Onigbanjo said.

     

     

  • Court rules on Otodo Gbame case June 21

    A Lagos High Court in Igbosere on Thursday fixed June 21 for ruling in a suit brought by residents of several waterfront communities against Lagos State government.

    Justice Surajudeen Onigbanjo said he would deliver judgment if the court finds that it has jurisdiction to hear the suit.

    The judge stated this after listening to oral addresses of the applicants and respondents’ counsel on the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the case.

    The suit was brought last year by 33 applicants suing on behalf of themselves and other residents of settlements including Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku, Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, the governor and the Commissioner of Police are the first, second, third and fourth respondents.

    Judgment in the suit has stalled since last April 12, when the court suo moto (on its own motion) raised the issue of its jurisdiction.

    Addressing the court during proceedings on Thursday, applicants’ counsel, Omotayo Enijiugha, said the matter ought to be for judgment, adding that the respondents were trying to delay the suit.

    Enijiugha argued that the appelants’ claim was a fundamental rights one which vested the court with jurisdiction to hear the suit.

    She said it was “not how the respondent sees the suit” that should determine the court’s view.

    “We urge this court to assume jurisdiction. The court has the power to grant the reliefs sought and even more,” Enijiugha added.

    Replying, the counsel to the first to third respondents, Adetokunboh Ladega, stated among others that the government’s positon on the suit was based on security concerns.

    Ladega said: “What Lagos State has been doing is to ensure that the security of the state is not breached.”

    She accused the applicants of wanting to cause an “unnecessary delay by asking for an adjournment for judgment.”

     

  • Otodo Gbame: Court rules on jurisdiction May 25

    Otodo Gbame: Court rules on jurisdiction May 25

    A Lagos High Court will on May 25 rule on whether it can hear a suit brought by displaced Otodo Gbame residents against the state government.

    Justice Surajudeen Onigbanjo gave the parties 14 days to file and respond to written addresses on the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the case.

    The suit was brought by 33 applicants suing on behalf of themselves and other residents of settlements including Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku, Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, the governor and the Commissioner of Police are the first, second third and fourth respondents.

    The judge said:  “While I was going through the court processes, I discovered that issues of jurisdiction were raised. These issues ought to be addressed.

    “The applicants will have seven days to file their relevant court processes while the respondents also have seven days to file their court processes in response to the applicants.”

    The judge frowned at a letter sent to him by Megan Chapman, an Otodo Gbame community advocate, but he did not make the content public.

    The applicants, through their counsel, Friday Oteiku, are seeking, among others, a declaration that they are the first settlers on the land and are lawful residents of the communities.

    But Director of Civil Litigation in the Ministry of Justice S. A. Quadri said the claimants “have no title to the land whatsoever.”

    On April 12, Justice Onigbanjo dismissed the plaintiff’s application seeking to jail the respondents for alleged contempt.

    He held that according to Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the governor has immunity from prosecution and imprisonment. The court, he declared, lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application.

  • Otodo Gbame: Judge postpones ruling over court’s jurisdiction

    A Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, has postponed judgment in a suit between several waterfront settlements and the Lagos State Government following questions about its jurisdiction.

    Justice Surajudeen Onigbanjo gave the parties 14 days to file and respond to written addresses on the issue of the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned till May 25 for judgment.

    The suit was instituted by 33 applicants suing on behalf of themselves and other residents of settlements including Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku and Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State Governor and the Commissioner of Police are the first, second third and fourth respondents respectively.

    “While I was going through the court processes, I discovered that issues of jurisdiction were raised,” the judge said. “These issues ought to be addressed.”

    “The applicant will have seven days to file their relevant court processes while the respondents also have seven days to file their court processes in response to the applicant.”

    The judge frowned at a letter sent to him by Megan Chapman, an Otodo Gbame community advocate, details of which he did not make public.

    The applicants, through their counsel, Friday Oteiku, are seeking a declaration, among others, that they are the first settlers on the land and are lawful residents of the communities.

    But the defence counsel and Lagos State Director of Civil Litigation, S. A. Quadri, insisted that the claimants “have no title to the land whatsoever.”

     

  • Community protests over government destruction of their houses

    Hundreds of residents of Otodo-Gbame in Lagos on Wednesday stormed the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, protesting alleged destruction of their houses by the state government.

    The protesters forced their way into the House in spite of a barricade mounted by police to prevent them from gaining entrance.

    They disrupted activities at the gate of the House for about two hours.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government had evicted hundreds of residents of Otodo-Gbame area of Lekki, citing security reasons.

    The protesters, who claimed to have stayed on the waterfronts for years, carried placards with inscriptions such as: “300,000 evicted’’ and “land sold to the rich”.

    The spokesman of the group, Mr Paul Kunnu, said that they had documented their requests in a recent meeting with some government officials.

    He claimed that the requests were not given any consideration.

    “Yesterday (Tuesday), we had a meeting with government officials; they told us to bring the list of the people living in the community which is impossible for us, as we are more than 30,000.

    “The government promised to give us special assistance in terms of food stuffs, but that is not our demand. We only want our lands back.

    “At our last meeting with them, one of them told us not to mention anything about the land again or they would send us away,” he said.

    According to the spokesman, the group had requested for restoration of their lands and security measures to guard them against attacks by hoodlums.

    NAN reports that, as at the time of this report, no government official attended to the protesters but the police calmed them.

     

  • Otodo Gbame: Court dismisses motion to jail governor, others

    A Lagos High Court, yesterday dismissed an application seeking jail Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni and two others for alleged contempt. The application was brought by displaced residents of Otodo Gbame community in Lekki.

    Dismissing the application, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo held that according to Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the governor, has immunity from prosecution and imprisonment.

    This, he added, meant that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application against him.

    Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Kazeem Adeniji, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, and Owoseni were the first, second and fourth respondents.

    The judge ruled that the other respondents having acted under the governor’s order could not be said to be contemnors.

    He said he would deliver judgement in the main suit on April 25 following the submissions by applicants’ counsel, Friday Oteiku, and defence counsel S. A. Quadri that mediation between the parties has broken down.

    The application was instituted by 33 persons suing on behalf of themselves and other residents of settlements including Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku and Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    They claimed through their counsel, Oteiku, that the respondents last November 7 and 16 orders restraining them “from demolishing any of the applicants’ “homes, business premises, properties or community facilities in waterfront communities across Lagos State inhabited by the applicants or evicting the applicants therefrom.”

    The applicants also claimed that on January 26, the respondents further disobeyed the court’s order that “parties shall maintain the status quo…pending the final resolution of issues between them either upon conclusion of mediation as directed by the court or the final determination of this suit.”

    In his ruling, Justice Onigbanjo said: “Much as the court empathises with the applicants’ rights and would ordinarily take all steps within the ambit of the law to protect the sanctity of judicial authority and the rule of law, the facts and circumstances of this case, in my opinion, regrettably place a constitutional barrier to any such exercise of judicial power.”

    He said it was settled law that committal proceedings were criminal/quasi-criminal which lead to the imprisonment of the alleged contemnors if found guilty.

    “Under those circumstances, I think that not only must the facts alleged in proof of contempt of court be proven beyond reasonable doubt, in this particular instance, because the respondents’ actions complained about as allegedly carried out with the direct supervision of the third respondent, who happens to be the governor of Lagos State…”

    Following the ruling, Quadri, Lagos State Director of Civil Litigation, told the court that the order directing the parties to maintain the status quo was disobeyed by the plaintiffs who continued to build on the land.

    But Justice Onigbanjo, while expressing concern over the allegation that “the governor deliberately disobeyed a court order”, said the government and its lawyers, had a higher moral burden in this instance.

    He asked: “Are you saying that because a child is rolling in sand, you, an adult, will also roll in the sand? This court will expect a higher level of compliance from this side than from the other side.”

  • Otodo Gbame: Court refuses to jail governor, CP Owoseni for contempt

    Otodo Gbame: Court refuses to jail governor, CP Owoseni for contempt

    A Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, has dismissed an application by thousands of displaced residents of several Lagos waterfront settlements seeking the committal to prison of Lagos State governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Commissioner of Police (CP) Fatai Owoseni and two others for contempt.

    Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo ruled yesterday that according to Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) the governor, who was the third respondent, had constitutional immunity from prosecution and imprisonment.

    This, he added, meant that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application against him.
    Attorney-General of Lagos and Commissioner for Justice Kazeem Adeniji, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, and the CP are the first, second and fourth respondents respectively.

    The judge ruled further that the other respondents, having acted under the clear order and direct supervision of the governor, they could not be said to be the contemnors.

    The court added that following the concession by applicants’ counsel, Friday Oteiku, and defence counsel S. A. Quadri that mediation between the parties had broken down, he would go ahead and deliver judgment in the substantive suit on April 25.

    The application was instituted by 33 applicants suing on behalf of themselves and other residents of settlements including Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku and Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

    They claimed through their counsel, Friday Oteiku, that the respondents breached an order of last November 7 and 16restraining them “from demolishing any of the applicants’ “homes, business premises, properties or community facilities in waterfront communities across Lagos State inhabited by the applicants or evicting the applicants therefrom.”

    The applicants, hundreds of whom besieged the court yesterday, also claimed that as recently as January 26, the respondents further disobeyed the court’s order that “parties shall maintain the status quo…pending the final resolution of issues between them either upon conclusion of mediation as directed by the court or the final determination of this suit.”

    In proof of their allegation, they stated that their communities were demolished by two excavators brought by members of the Lagos State Task Force comprising soldiers, military police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp and police officers.

    According to the applicants, a Task Force official stated that “This is Lagos State, we don’t obey court orders, take it to the governor,” while pointing to a Rapid Response Squad helicopter flying overhead through which the governor was said to be allegedly monitoring the operation.

    Ruling, Justice Onigbanjo said: “Much as the court empathises with the applicants’ rights and would ordinarily take all steps within the ambit of the law to protect the sanctity of judicial authority and the rule of law, the facts and circumstances of this case, in my opinion, regrettably place a constitutional barrier to any such exercise of judicial power.”

    He noted that it is settled law that committal proceedings are criminal/quasi-criminal which lead to imprisonment of the alleged contemnors if found guilty.

    “Under those circumstances, I think that not only must the facts alleged in proof of contempt of court be proven beyond reasonable doubt, in this particular instance, because the respondents’ actions complained about as allegedly carried out with the direct supervision of the third respondent, who happens to be the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution unequivocally forbids the court from entertaining this manner of application or any other criminal proceedings against the occupant of that office so long as he remains in office.

    “Now, because it is clear from the affidavit evidence adduced by the applicant that the third respondent ordered the actions complained about in flagrant disobedience of the above-stated directives of this court, then it must follow that the other respondents in this suit cannot really be said to be in contempt of this court or to be said to have caused the actions complained about.

    “I would observe that reprehensible as the actions complained about in this application are, the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain these committal proceedings against the third respondent, and by implication, the other respondents by virtue of the immunity afforded the third respondent by Section 308 of the Constitution.”

    Following the ruling, Quadri, the Lagos State Director of Civil Litigation, stated that contrary to Oteiku’s claims that the claimants were the first settlers on the land, the plaintiffs had no title to the land whatsoever.

    He explained that the court order directing the parties to maintain the status quo was disobeyed by the plaintiffs who continued to build on the land.

    But Justice Onigbanjo, who expressed grave concern if it was true that the governor deliberately disobeyed a court order, stated that the government and its lawyers had a higher moral burden in this instance.

    He asked: “Are you saying that because a child is rolling in sand, you, an adult, will also roll in the sand? This court will expect a higher level of compliance from this (government’s) side than from the other side.”