- Community leaders accuse Ejigbo LCDA chair of siding with sand-sellers
- I’m for peaceful co-existence – chairman
For residents of Ashamu Swamp Estate, Franzaki Street, Divine Estate and Sunny Mbila CDAs along Isheri-Osun Road in Ejigbo LCDA of Lagos, and their sand seller neighbours with depot located at the nearby Oke-Afa canal bank, it has been a story of cat and mouse, suspicion, accusations and counter-accusations.
The situation has even degenerated to series of demonstrations, counter-demonstrations, even violent face-offs, with the sand seller women physically assaulting the residents, even inflicting bodily wounds on some of them, allegedly.
One of those who claimed they sustained bodily injuries during one of the face-offs, Barrister Akin Richards, chairman of Ashamu Swamp CDA, spoke of how the women usually come almost half- naked to assault men in the community, knowing they would not be able to fight them back in that state.
The disagreements over the communities’ efforts to fix one of the major roads leading into the area- Ogunlade Drive in Ashamu Swamp CDA, purportedly damaged by activities of heavy vehicles patronising the sand sellers; as well as Franzaki Street CDA’s insistence that heavy vehicles who are now appealing to ply their road, pay maintenance fee like all residents of the street are the bone of contention.
Franzaki residents particularly argue that the sand sellers request to use their road is because of the negative effects of their activities on their usual route, Ogunlade Drive, which is currently under reconstruction through community efforts, arguing that it will be foolhardy of them to allow them unregulated usage, and have them destroy the road in the process like they’ve done in the past. Kingsley Awudu, one of the officials of the Franzaki CDA recalled a particular occasion when they agreed to pay a fee of N500 per vehicle, nominated one of their own to collect the money, and in the end the collector made away with the whole proceed without any trace.
“They collected the fees for three weeks and nothing was remitted. Eventually the whole blame was placed on our chairman, Chief James Ilo, for allowing them collect the fee in the first place. To appease nerves, he put down one million naira from his pocket, with which the community bought rubbles to fill the road and ameliorate the effect of their activities. Prior to this one, there was another occasion when we granted them use of the road on condition that they would to give us rubbles to grade the road when they were done. They never did.”
Awudu said it was on the basis of these past experiences that the community insisted that they signed an agreement this time. “But rather than sign, they dilly-dallied and in the end went to report to Ejigbo LCDA chairman, Monsuru Obe, that we were collecting tolls on government road, for which the chairman now said we should stop forthwith and summoned a meeting to his office.”
The communities are also accusing the Executive Chairman of Ejigbo LCDA, Monsuru Obe of taking sides with the sand sellers at their detriment. They argue that rather than protect their interest, as his electorate, he seems to be more interested in the free flow of the sand sellers’ business, even openly advising them to get a lawyer and register their association during one of their meetings at his office .
According to Barrister Richards, the whole incident took roots when Ashamu Swamp community, under his leadership, decided to upgrade and construct the dilapidated road using community funds and other finances.
This, he said, was after several efforts to reach out to the government to help fix the road, starting with the Ejigbo LCDA, the Lagos State Public Works Corporation and the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, yielded nothing.
“Nine months out of twelve, our road is horribly marshy and impassable due to their activities; their trucks even crash into our buildings, without them taking responsibility. There were days we counted up to 90 of such heavy vehicles coming in to the community. The most painful is the suffering we have to put our children through, because parents have to walk them all the length of that road to meet the school buses that can’t come in, deliveries don’t come, uber taxis don’t come, family and friends don’t come, even pastors don’t have congregation anymore, therefore no tithes.”
Consequently, he said he came up with a 3D image of the proposed road, which he showed to the leadership of the sand sellers in a meeting, which they applauded. He then told them the road would cost a whooping N460milion.
“Because they said they didn’t have money, I told them we’d fund it, do direct labour, but once done, they’d have to pay for use of the road, which of course will be used in repaying the source of the fund. We proposed N5k per entry, but after back and forth arguments, they came back to plead for N2,500 and we eventually said they should do N3,000 for the first three months, and thereafter, it comes down to N2,500.
“Next, we faced the hurdle of when to commence work on the road, which was to start with construction of drainage channels, including the cutting of the road for a culvert. They wanted us to do the culvert in part, so their operation would go on uninterrupted, but we disagreed because that would affect its quality. They even brought OP MESA to threaten us. Eventually, we agreed for December 22, 2023, and kept to it.”
Richards said it was therefore a big surprise to see the sand sellers call in the local government chairman, Monsuru Obe, who through series of meeting, which only showed he was on the side of the sand sellers, called for suspension of all works, even coming with a team of policemen one morning.
In fairness, he said Obe also suspended activities of the sand sellers, which typically of them, they disobeyed, using another outlet.
To Barrister Richards and other community leaders at this interaction that had Ashamu Swamp Vice Chairman, Alhaji Ogunlade AbdulFatai; and Franzaki CDA’s Kingsley Awudu, Lawrence Ikoro and Ndifrekeabasi Gad in attendance, the Ejigbo LCDA’s actions in the matter have fallen short of their expectation, giving vent to a suspicion that he either has interest in the sand sellers’ business or is differing to some unknown patrons or backers of the sand sellers.
We only ask to be part of the revenue administration – Sand-sellers’ leader
Reacting, leader of the sand sellers, Folorunsho Ogungbemi, said it is not true that they were beating up residents. He also debunked the allegation that one of the community leaders, Barrister Richards sustained bodily injury during a recent demonstration, claiming that the IPO in charge of the matter busted the lie when they all met the Area D Police Commander in Mushin during the week.
He said the contention is the community’s decision to cut off the road in the name of road construction without government’s approval and their insistence to collect tolls from vehicles patronising them without letting them participate in the administration of the accruing funds.
This, he said, is despite the fact that they once contributed some huge money to the CDA towards the repair of the same road, which he said they mismanaged.
He also debunked allegations that none of them live within the community or have any stake there, stating that they are also landlords in the area, with NIWA (National Inland Waterway Authority)approval and doing legitimate business.
He acknowledged that their vehicles indeed contribute to the dilapidation of the road, but insisted that they have also contributed sands and rubbles towards upgrading it in the past, claiming the purported plan to construct the road is a scam and that it is only the government that can undertake such project.
Asked to comment on Franzaki LCDA’s allegation of their dishonesty and how they twice reneged after promising to cooperate in maintaining the road, Ogungbemi referred this reporter to their lawyer, insisting that the questions were getting too many and beyond him.
I’m for peaceful co-existence -Chairman Obe
The Ejigbo LCDA Chairman, Monsuru Bello Obe, however, told The Nation during a telephone interview that he has never been on the side of any of the warring groups but on the side of peace, stating that allegation that he was taking sides with the sand sellers was baseless.
Obe, who said he only got to know about the crisis in the area through the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area, said he immediately went there to forestall any violent clash.
“When I got there, the sand sellers told me that the Franzaki area wanted to be collecting toll from them for plying the road, and have therefore erected a barricade on the road, same with Ogunlade Drive, where they had cut the road – a lot of allegations and counter-allegations; so I said ‘Okay, let us maintain status quo, let’s moved to the local government for a meeting.”
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Obe explained that “After series of meetings, where I insisted that our interest as government was that they all must live together in peace, we were able to identify three factors – the sand sellers allege that the community wants to collect N3,000 per vehicle plying the road; that the community does not want them to be involved in the operations of the toll, and the third is that the sand sellers alleged that the CDAs don’t recognise them and don’t invite them for meetings.”
Unfortunately, Obe said the communities only agreed to budge on just one of the factors, which was that they would subsequently recognise and invite them for meetings; and that it was at this point that he suspended the meeting.
Subsequently, he said the community yielded to accept N2,500 per truck but several allegations kept coming up, causing him to instruct them to get their lawyers to come up with a framework on how they intend to run the whole thing. He said it was when they couldn’t come up with any workable framework that he decided to escalate the matter to the state level, by intimating the State House of Assembly and the government.
“But before doing that, I decided to give them a last chance. I made up a proposal; I said Franzaki, instead of you people having your toll, and Ogunlade Drive putting up another toll gate, centralise it in one location, so that every community would have benefit of the proceeds. I even, as government, decided to make a N500,000 donation for them to grade the road and avoid issues. but they started mocking me, saying the money was from the sand sellers.”
On the allegation that he has interest in the sand sellers’ business, Obe said, “These people have been operating for over 20 years, have they ever seen me there?