Isolo LCDA/Residents tango:Court fixes Oct 6 for hearing

By Abolaji Adebayo

A High Court sitting in Ikeja has fixed Wednesday, October 6, 2021 for hearing of a case between residents of Adebisi Omotola and Isolo LCDA.

Also joined in the suit are  Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area, Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development and the Lagos State Building Control Agency.

The residents are asking the court to determine the  legality of the shopping complex the Isolo LCDA built on a piece of land which they claim belongs to them.

The residents under the aegis of Adebisi Omotola Residents Association had written to the court to challenge Isolo LCDA and three defendants  over their claim of ownership of the piece of land and the legality of the  one-storey shopping complex.

Although the complex was built by the council during the tenure of former chairman, Hon. Shamsudeen Olaleye,  the new chairman, Otunba Adebayo Olasoju has promised to convert it to a primary school.

While other  residents commended the new council boss for the conversion plan, it appears that residents of the immediate streets are yet to come to terms with the new development.

As reported by ECHONEWS, earlier this year when the local council was about to embark on the construction of the shopping complex, the Landlords of Adebisi Omotola Street threatened to protest against the plan  claiming that the government was encroaching on their land.

The Chairman of the Landlords and Residents Association, Pa Edmund Thompson, told ECHONEWS that they would carry out a peaceful protest if the local council went ahead with its plan to take over the piece of land on the street and put up the proposed shopping complex.

The association had earlier petitioned the council and copied other concerned bodies on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, but was surprised to see the council put up another fence around the land.

“We’ve petitioned the council over its proposed plan on the piece of land. The land does not belong to the council, it belongs to the community. The person it compensated does not own the land because he never acquired it. He was only helped with it and allowed to do his carpentry work on the land. It was out of the magnanimity of the community that Olonade had remained on the land after he erected building on it. It was only meant for him to carry out his carpentry work. At first, when he put up structure there, I called the attention of the community to it and we all decided to leave him. We didn’t know anything more about it. How he got the approval from the state for the structure, we didn’t know.

“The portion of land is an open space that belongs to the community. We chose not to take laws into our hands when we noticed the act of encroachment by the local council authority and that was why we wrote a petition against it and copied the governor, the council, commissioner and the police.

“The land as a whole belongs to Mr A. A. Kasumu whom we all bought our portions from. It doesn’t belong to the council, it belongs to the community. We are just fighting for the safety of this community. Our interest is peace and security. The community is the freeholder of the land. All landlords in this area have conveyance, we bought this place before the land use act.

“We want the state to intervene and not wait till the council takes a step further. If the council does not keep away from the land, I’ve decided to call the landlords both women and men to protest if it moves any move by force,” the association had explained

But the  council claimed to be the rightful owner of the piece of land and that it had compensated the self-acclaimed owner, Alhaji Olonade.

The council claimed that it served Olonade quit and removal notices last December, giving him a two-month grace which elapsed in February this year.

After the February date, the council put up a temporary fence but it was reportedly removed by the land owners.

However, the council rebuilt the fence and started construction work.

Reacting to the claim, the then council chairman, Hon. Shamsudeen Olaleye (Shammeh), explained that the land belongs to the council, claiming that it is a government setback and it has compensated the self-acclaimed owner.

Olaleye said after compensating Olonade, he was given time to evacuate the land.

He challenged the community to go to court if the landlords have evidence to support their claim.

His words: “If they feel they have the Certificate of Occupancy, they should go to court. The land is a government setback, it is government-owned. What seemed to be an issue about it has been resolved. The man that claimed to be the supposed landlord has been duly compensated. If the community feels that they own the piece of land they should present their evidence.”

Thereafter, the residents took bold step to challenge the local government in court but their plan to sue the local council over the ownership of the landed property in May, 2021 was unsuccessful due to judicial workers’ strike.

Amidst the controversy, officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency on April 27, this year served a contravention notice on the site.

Besides, the residents warned prospective buyers of shops in the shopping complex against taking risk.

They claim that only the judgment of the court of law could determine the fate of the property which they believed is theirs.

According to them, the piece of land on which the complex is being built is the community’s setback which is outside the council’s premises.

They claimed that the council encroached on their land to build the shopping complex without their consent, stating that they are waiting for the court to resume for them to take up the case.

Despite the pleas by new local council administration led by new council chairman, the residents are still forging ahead to challenge the council in court.

The matter has been assigned to Hon. Justice Savage at the Ikeja High Court for Wednesday, October 6, 2021.