Chiemelie Ezeobi and Ayodeji Ake
A middle aged couple, simply identified as Mr. and Mrs. Adeoye, yesterday raised alarm over the encroachment of their land at No. 39, Egbe Road in Ejigbo by the duo of Tajudeen Muritala and Mayaki Suleiman aided by the operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).
In the video that has since gone viral, the couple made a passionate appeal to the federal and state governments as well as other relevant authorities to intervene as they have been continuously harassed and terrorised over a property they bought with their gratuity.
While appealing to Nigerians to come to their aid, Mrs. Adeoye said: “I run an event centre at 33 Egbe Ejigbo Road, Oke-Afa. We have been operating this property since almost 12 years ago. Unfortunately on April 18, we saw SARS men on uniform fully armed with some mufti men.”
According to her, “We saw them jumping over our property at 39, Egbe Road that was meant to be parking space for our event centre. We approached them to inquire what was happening, only for one Mayaki Hamzat to tell us that he led the SARS men from Abuja because the owner of the land wants to take possession.
“This is the land we have been operating for the last 10 years. My husband bought that land with his gratuity after retirement from Guinness Plc. Since then, the policemen have been terrorising us.
“That day, after telling us they were from Abuja, they made my husband to sit on the floor, collected his phone and held him hostage. They started pulling down all the trees and beautification we did on the park. They made him to even start digging. That same day they started building. They began to construct on our property with the help of the SARS men that wore a scorpion shirt to cover their uniform.
She added that she got no help either from the DPO or the area commander and so she lived in fear until her husband called her late in the night that he has been released.
Also speaking, the patriarch of the family said they have been terrorised repeatedly by the duo of Tajudeen Muritala and Mayaki Suleiman.
He said: “Mayaki is boasting that he has police in his pocket because the former Inspector General, Alhaji Idris is his cousin. Police shouldn’t be tools in the hands of privileged people. We are law abiding citizens and we bought this land genuinely with our gratuity.
Reacting to the plea of the couple, the police hierarchy admitted that they were in the know of the case and would act judiciously.
The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, who confirmed the incident said: “We are working on it already. It happened sometime in April.”
Also reacting, Lagos State government through the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, has ordered the immediate and full investigation into the matter.
Onigbanjo, who is also the Chairman, of the State Special Task Force on Land Grabbers, said he has also contacted and invited the couple involved to a meeting at the ministry for further clarifications.
In a statement by the Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Kayode Oyekanmi, the state government said justice would be served in the matter as the present administration was committed to the protection of all investments made in the state.
