OVER 2,000 displaced residents of Makoko Water Front in Iwaya, Yaba Council Development Area yesterday besieged the Alausa office of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to register their frustration and continued suffering following the demolition of their shanties by the government last Monday.The residents, most of whom were elderly women, children, youths and children arrived at about 11.00 a.m. and sat down on the entrance and exit lanes of the office awaiting the governor.
Led by the Baale of the Makoko, Yusuf Jejelaye and lawyer of the community, Felix Mouka, some of the residents who carried placards lamented their fate since their eviction from where they have called home since birth.
They sat on the bare floor until about 12:30 p.m. when security officials allowed them entrance into the office where they were later received by Fashola and some members of the state Executive Council.
Jejelaye said the residents voted for the governor in the last election because they believed in his integrity and the fact that he would always be there to fight for the right of the poor.
“We have been waiting to see your performance in our community when suddenly police took over our community, destroying property and shooting, in which my assistant Baale was killed.”
But Fashola said the government was not going back in its decision, saying: “You must look more to your government than to any other person. We act for the benefit of the community. Some people are benefitting from your difficulty, in the guise of being your friends, forming all sorts of lies, purporting to help you, but it never gets to you.”
Fashola also said the decision to eject them was to save the Lagoon from further shrinking, noting that the continuous expansion of the structures on the water body puts it in grave danger.
“Yes you mentioned indigenous people, but there are foreigners there too, from Cameroun, Benin Republic and Togo who have no papers, illegal immigrants.”
Fashola, however, said he will look into the killing of Timothy Huntoyanwha by a marine police corporal on Saturday, promising that the government will probe the incident.
But the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) implored Fashola to ensure that the evictees are properly accommodated and that the death of their ruler be investigated with culprits brought to book.
In a statement, the PDP’s Publicity Secretary, Taofik Gani, deplored “the manner and timing of demolition,” which, it said, was more of destruction than correction.
“It lacked human feelings and indeed violation of human rights,” especially during a time of heavy rainfalls.
“The residents are now helpless with no alternative accommodation by the state government,” PDP added.
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