More than 500 buildings were demolished on Monday morning at Atinplome community in Mowo Phase II, Badagry, Lagos State, on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.
Over 200 policemen and seven bulldozers took part in the operation, aimed at reclaiming the land said to belong to the police from trespassers.
The operation was led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Osu Ekpo.
Majority of the affected house owners admitted that the land was sold to them by land speculators years ago, adding that they did not have certificate of occupancy (C of O) of the land.
It was gathered that the Nigeria Police acquired the 65 hectares of land about seven years ago to build houses for senior police officers and got the C of O from the state government in 2008.
But land speculators started encroaching on the land, since the authorities had not commenced work on it.
A police source disclosed that when the police discovered the encroachment, they issued a quit notice to the owners of the houses to vacate the land in 2011, with the last notice said to have been served on them two weeks ago.
The source said the Inspector General of Police ordered his men to demolish houses on the land, when the occupants refused to heed the quit notice.
Some of those affected in the development were able to salvage a few of their belongings, as women and children wailed during the exercise.
One of the affected landlords, Mr Waheed Yakubu, said the police issued them eviction letter on December 14, lamenting that he built his houses nine years ago though without C of O.
George, a resident of Mowo, said no fewer than 400 houses would have been affected by the demolition exercise.
“I was on my way to the office when I saw a large number of policemen and bulldozers arriving the community, but our house was not affected,” he said.
He added that many of the residents were aware of the claim that the land belonged to the Nigeria Police, adding that many of the affected residents were making moves to have them accommodated at the new housing estate being planned by the police authorities for senior officers.
Confirming the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ngozi Braide , while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said owners of the affected building had encroached on the land belonging to the Nigeria Police.
She also claimed that the police had, a long time ago, issued a quit notice to owners and occupants of the buildings, before the eventual demolition on Monday.
Braide confirmed the demolition of the houses but denied the knowledge of the number of those affected.
“It is true those people encroached on police land. Police acquired the land a long time ago and the the owners of the building have equally been given quit notice a along time ago,” Braide said.
The state police image maker said the Nigeria Police acquired the land from the state government and had processed the necessary documents.
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