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Lagos Govt, Police Collaborate With Suspected Land Grabbers To Displace Dozens, Demolish Structures – Tweep Alleges
A Twitter user, Pelumi with the account @oldmama_seloko, has raised alarm over the displacement of some families in a community in Badagry, Lagos State.
In an exclusive interview with biztellers.com.ng, she said, “a few weeks ago some people who are land grabbers came to the town with the police and touts. They call him Owoeye. And from reports, he is a popular land grabbers in Lagos.
“They came to inform us that a certain person has acquired a particular area of our town and people were asking for notice and court orders (to vacate the land), no such thing was presented.
“Initially, steps were taken to have a legal ruckus in court, but these land grabbers won’t appear in court and later reports had it that they said they won’t appear in court, that nobody should invite them to court.
“So, my parents and some other affected families went to the police station in the area, Area K Police Command.
“The officers told them that the matter is out of their hands but they are aware that the touts are there and the land grabbers. They said we should not cause any trouble with them, we should be at peace with them.
“The affected people were informed that the land grabbers are backed by some officers from Zone 2 Police Command, Lagos.
“All efforts to meet Zone Two commanders are futile.
“They did not send any notice, all they were saying was ‘order from above, order from above’, no notice, no official statement.
“We have tried to go court but they on their part are not appearing. We went to the police but there’s no help. In fact no police man has come to challenge them. The only thing we got thing close to assistance we had was when some soldiers came to stop the police men from taking the people they have arrested away to the police station.
“They brought a black Maria and put them. The Chairman of the CDA has written a petition to the Lagos State government directly. Less than an hour we submitted the petition, the hoodlums got to know, we didn’t know how. They went to the Chairman’s house and demolized it, this demoralized all of us because the Chairman has been the one motivating us all,” she said.
In a series of tweet on Thursday, Pelumi narrated how someone powerful allegedly purchased the land and asked the residents to vacant the lands.
She wrote, “Help!!!, families are being displaced and the police is doing nothing about it.
“y name is pelumi and I live in a small town in mowo badagry.Three weeks ago,some touts followed by some police officers, came into our community and they announced that a certain area of the town has been purchased by someone and there is an order from above that everyone in that area should vacate it.
“People have built houses & are living there, including my family(we own property there since 2009).
“My father with some of the affected people went to Area K division of Lagos state police command to report this incident, but they were told by the police officers there that they (the officers) are aware of the touts that are there and the land they came to steal.
“They also added that the matter is out of their hands and the Land grabbers(i.e the touts) are backed by some head officers from Zone 2 of Lagos state police.
“Now, as of two weeks ago, these touts have demolished fences, houses and have chased many people out of their houses and the police are backing them and are not doing anything.
“People are very scared because these touts have guns and they are more than 100 men.
“They are still in the community and are constituting a nuisance.
“Also, the touts are asking people to pay 3million Naira per plot if they want their lands back. This is completely uncalled for and the police @BenHundeyin @LagosPoliceNG need to help.”
The Lagos Police Command Public Relations Officer SP Benjamin Hundeyin however said the people are not land grabbers as alleged.
“Some clarifications need to be made. These aren’t touts or land grabbers as is being touted all over this thread.
“Residents of the area including the poster know the truth. This much is clear from the attached videos.
“This is an operation being carried out by the government. Policemen at the scene ensuring peace and orderliness are from Zone 2 headquarters. This is also clearly stated in the thread.”
The COP29 presidency has unveiled an ambitious climate finance plan, calling on developed nations to provide $250 billion annually to developing countries by 2035.
The proposal, part of a broader initiative to mobilize $1.3 trillion from public and private sources each year, seeks to address the mounting challenges posed by climate change.
The five-page draft text, released on Friday, emphasizes the need for developed nations to lead the charge in financing climate action.
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According to the document, this financial commitment is seen as a critical step toward combating the climate crisis and fostering sustainable development globally.
“In this context, it is decided to set a goal in extension of the goal referred to in paragraph 53 of decision 1/CP.21, with developed country Parties taking the lead, to USD 250 billion per year by 2035 for developing country Parties for climate action,” the draft states.
The announcement follows the release of an earlier 10-page draft on Thursday, which drew significant criticism from Global South delegations.
Many expressed frustration that the document lacked clear financial commitments from wealthier nations, falling short of expectations to support adaptation and mitigation efforts.
“There is a clear need to address the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, especially given the diverse circumstances shaping national priorities,” a negotiator from a developing country delegation remarked.
The updated proposal aims to address some of these concerns by outlining more specific targets. However, skepticism remains among some negotiators, who feel the revisions still fail to adequately address their demands.
Meanwhile, developed countries have raised their own reservations about the proposed plan.
A European negotiator, speaking to Reuters, described the $250 billion annual target as unrealistic and criticized the lack of measures to expand the pool of contributing countries.
“No one is comfortable with the number because it’s high, and there’s almost nothing on broadening the contributor base,” the negotiator said.
The mixed reactions underscore the persistent divide between developed and developing nations in climate negotiations.
While the draft text aims to reconcile these differences, the gap between expectations and commitments remains a significant hurdle.
The President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu has admonished state actors against resorting to brutal force in the bid to muscle out separatist agitators.
In the aftermath of Mazi Simon Ekpa, the Finland based Biafran nationalist agitator being caught in legal web and the Nigerian government moving swiftly to seek his repatriation, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned that ‘We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.’
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The political economist, while expressing his hope in Nigeria, made it clear that “hope is not a strategy”.
He bared his mind in a series of posts on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X on Friday.
Moghalu wrote, “Despite sustained contemporary difficulties, I am hopeful about Nigeria. But hope is not a strategy. We need to improve state capacity for effective governance.
“We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.
“We must learn to be honest with ourselves and address the root causes of our problems. Why ignore them, when the problem is actually quite solvable? The problem with continuing with this approach is that when the danger crystallizes, those who thought they were benefiting from
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
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