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BREAKING: ‘Unknown gvt’ officials demolish Obi brother’s property in Lagos
“How do you sue an unknown person? How does a court issue a judgment in such a farce of a case?” No one was served. No name was written. Yet they showed up with excavators and began destroying a structure that had stood for over 15 years,” was the lamentation of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, on Tuesday, as he stood on the rubbles left of what once was a family property, after it was demolished by yet-to-be-identified Lagos State officials.
The property, located in Ikeja area of the state, which the former Governor of Anambra State, said belonged to the younger brother, was reportedly pulled down by the said agents, on Tuesday on the explanation that it was home to squatters, from the account he rendered in a statement on the same day, where he gave details of the incident.
Narrating the sad incident in a statement on Tuesday, an obviously troubled Obi narrated how he was alerted on Tuesday morning by his younger brother that a group of unknown individuals had invaded and commenced the demolition of a company-owned property in Ikeja and how the said brother, who had just returned from Port Harcourt, was reportedly denied access to the building by security men on site, who told him that demolition had already started over the weekend.
He added: “I rushed to Lagos from Abuja after the call this morning and headed straight to the property. On arrival, I was met by security people who tried to bar me from entering. I pleaded with them, explaining the property belonged to my brother’s company and had been in his possession for over a decade.”
In the statement, titled: Lawlessness and impunity in our society, which he personally signed, Obi bemoaned the level of lawlessness in the country, which he said had gone beyond intolerable level, warning that with the current picture, the much sought after foreign investment would be difficult, if not impossible to achieve.
Read the full account:
Lawlessness and impunity in our society
By Peter Obi
Any society where lawlessness overrides the rule of law is not destined to be a haven for investors. Recent reports showing that Nigeria’s human rights indicators have worsened merely highlight severe shortfalls in government protection for civil liberties, personal security, and basic living standards.
I know what I have been going through as a person in abuse of my human rights just because I contested a Presidential election which I have legitimate rights to do. So I imagine what small business owners, regular citizens, and vulnerable communities face every day. If this level of lawlessness can happen to someone with a registered company and legitimate means, what hope does the ordinary Nigerian have?
This morning, my youngest brother called me frantically, informing me that a group of people had invaded his company property in Ikeja, Lagos, and were demolishing the building. He had just come in from Port Harcourt and was denied entry to the property by security men who told him the building was being pulled down. They even informed him that this demolition had started over the weekend. As a peace-loving Nigerian, he quickly started processing to go to court immediately, not knowing what must have resulted in this, as they moved fast to destroy his home without any restraint.
I rushed to Lagos from Abuja after the call this morning and headed straight to the property. On arrival, I was met by security people who tried to bar me from entering the property. I humbly pleaded with them that the property belonged to my brother’s company, and from the records, the company had owned the property for over a decade. They told me they had a court judgment, and I immediately requested it. You would not believe that the court judgment they claim was issued against an unknown person, and squatters. I went further to ask about a demolition order or permit, and there was none.
How do you sue an unknown person? How does a court issue a judgment in such a farce of a case? No one was served. No name was written. Yet they showed up with excavators and began destroying a structure that had stood for over 15 years.
I immediately asked the excavators for the person who had sent them, and they said they didn’t know anyone, but they were only informed to come and demolish the house. I immediately told them to tell whoever it is that I would like to speak with them, if they can call my number, which I shared with the excavators, so that I can speak with whomever gave them the order to demolish the property.
I stood there from 10am to 2pm, waiting to get a call at least and nobody called or came. The contractor even said he didn’t know who sent him. Two men later came and said they would like us to go to a police station. I asked if they even had a demolition order but they had nothing. The whole situation screamed of coordinated lawlessness and impunity. Our country has become lawless.
I just started reminiscing about how just over the weekend, I had a meeting when someone told me how he has investments in Ghana, Senegal, and the Benin Republic, but won’t touch Nigeria despite his market being here. I asked him why. His answer was piercing: “Nigeria is a lawless country. Until we have laws that protect people, nobody will invest in Nigeria.”
I am just shocked. How did Nigeria get to this level of lawlessness?
What kind of country are we trying to build when the rights of citizens, their lives, their properties, and their voices are trampled upon daily?
I remain committed to a better Nigeria where lawlessness will be a thing of the past, protection of life and property, respect for human rights, care for the less privileged, and basic education for all children.
A new Nigeria is POssible.
– PO
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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