Ex-deputy speaker tackles Lagos chairman over property demolition

A former Deputy Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Edwards Ayo-Odugbesan, and his wife, Funmi, have accused the Chairman, Agege Local Government Area, Ganiyu Egunjobi, of unlawfully demolishing their building on Old Ogba Road, Abiola Market, Lagos State.

The family, while claiming to have documents validating their ownership of the land, said the demolished property, which had been in existence for no fewer than 30 years, was used as a school for indigent residents of the Agege community.

During a visit to the scene on Wednesday, our correspondent observed that the school’s name is Edwards Private School.

While labourers were seen carrying out a demolition exercise on the building, a demolition permit was also seen on the fence just as the rubble of a section of the demolished property, and some books, tables, and chairs were scattered within the premises.
Speaking on the matter with Saturday PUNCH, Ayo-Odugbesan said he sent a message on WhatsApp to Egunjobi showing the building’s documents to prove that they own the property, adding that despite receiving the messages, the chairman reportedly went ahead to demolish the property.

“When we were alerted about the confiscation notice on Thursday, September 26, 2024, we immediately caused a letter to be written to the Chairman of the Agege Local Government Area the next day, and attached the CTC of all our land title documents,” he explained.

Also speaking with our correspondent, Funmi, while lamenting the development, said the property was not targeted by the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority.
She said, “Even the LASPPA paper they pasted on the same day they demolished the three-story building showed that they were permitted only to demolish 27 bungalows inside the Abiola Market. They claim to have a Certificate of Occupancy dated 2000 from what LASPPA pasted on the fence but we got our Governor’s consent in 1995.”

The aggrieved couple provided scanned copies of the Deed of Assignment and the Governor’s Consent to our correspondent.
Meanwhile, during a conversation with our correspondent, Egunjobi confirmed that he was aware of the demolition, noting that he had valid documents showing the council owned the land.

Egunjobi said, “We have court documents that show that we are the owners of the land. I don’t know where their document is from. We can’t jump into the land if we don’t own it.

“Before the council can carry out demolition, they must have gotten approval from the state. We have permission, and we have to do it. We have been there for over six months, and the council is working there. There is no school there again. The school has stopped running for over five years.”

When our correspondent requested Egunjobi to send the documents to him to verify his claim, he declined insisting that our correspondent should visit his office to take a look at it.

However, reacting to the claim by the chairman that the school had stopped running for over five years, the Head Teacher of the school, Ndidi Meduoye, and some parents debunked the claim.
Reacting to the case, the Director of Public Affairs, LASPPPA, Abimbola Emdin-Umeh, said the agency was not saddled with the responsibility of building demolition.

She said, “By law, we don’t have the facility, and if there’s any building that’s contravening the building laws of Lagos State, there are other agencies that will demolish it.”

However, a High Court sitting at the Ikeja Judicial Division of the state prohibited the Agege Local Government Area from carrying out any demolition activities while the case was adjourned until November 5, 2024.