Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
Residents are left in tears as their years of hard work and investment have been brought to shambles by Skye Bank and Lekki Gardens as they bulldozed their landed properties through illegal means rendering an estimated 3000 of them homeless in Abule porapo Awoyaya Ibeju Lagos state.
SecretReporters had earlier broke the news on how Skye Bank and Lekki Gardens took 24th to 28th of July 2018 to demolish about 200 houses with duplexes and bungalows inclusive and also about 500 fences to lands with building in view; taking away landed properties from legitimate and once proud owners with authentic documents and rendering inhabitants who could once boast of having a roof over their head homeless.
Sources revealed to SecretReporters that Skye Bank MD, Tokunbo Abiru and Lekki Gardens allegedly connived with four other persons, including the lawyer of the entire community to falsify documents of ownership of the landed properties from the original owners without their consent to theirs.
It’s also alleged that Lekki Gardens have been infamous for land grabbing in Lagos state because of their perceived political might.
“This inhumane act was done by Lekki Gardens as a result of their greed to expand to surrounding lands of their almost completed estate known as Meridian Parks”, one of our sources disclosed.
We gathered that the initial landowners on being aware of this latest development took to the court to challenge this incursion of their land by Lekki Gardens. In reaction to this effect, the Lagos State Environmental Agency mounted their trucks and personnel in the said community. Upon enquiries by the residents from the personnel, it was disclosed that they got complaints that there are plans to convert the community into a dumping site.
However, two weeks after the incident, possession notice without authorized signatures or court suit were seen pasted on the said landed properties. The community development association executives were urged to consult the Lagos state Commissioner of Police who informed them of Skye bank’s claim to have acquired the landed property from some persons and in the same regard sold the lands to Lekki Gardens who in turn informed the Lagos State government that few people were building only fences on the land withholding vital information that it is a community of thriving people. This, however, opposes the confessions of the landowners as they stated that they did not enter into any property agreement or business with either Skye Bank of Lekki Gardens neither did they mandate anyone to enter into any kind of landed property on their behalf.
This action taken by the duo have left many stranded, traumatic and some bedridden in the hospital. As the unsuspecting residents have been deprived of shelter or a place of abode with no form of compensation whatsoever nor hope of succour.
