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Over 2,753 Igbo properties destroyed since Sanwo-Olu’s administration – Ohanaeze Ndigbo
The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has issued a strong warning to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, regarding what the group views as a targeted campaign of persecution against the Igbo community and their investments in the state.
In a statement released on Sunday by Okechukwu Isiguzoro, Deputy President General, and Chinemeze Ohia, National Spokesperson, Ohanaeze alleged that a total of 2,753 properties belonging to Igbo people in Lagos have been demolished by the state government since 2019.
READ ALSO: Lagos govt demolishes 19 buildings at Trade Fair complex
Declaring the need to urgently address this “menace,” the Igbo socio-political organisation demanded an immediate end to all demolition activities, particularly those aimed at Igbo investments within Lagos.
“Such measures are not merely administrative actions; they are perceived as a calculated political vendetta designed to systematically dismantle the economic contributions of the Igbo residents in Lagos State, compelling them to vacate the state in advance of the 2027 elections.
“With the utmost gravity, Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemns the recent demolitions of shops and structures at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos,” the statement said.
The group contended that the actions of the Lagos State government demonstrate a high level of injustice, constitute an economic affront, and are a blatant violation of the rights of traders, who are predominantly of Igbo descent.
Citing multiple legal frameworks, including Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the UN Convention on Human Rights, and the foundation of the 1978 Land Use Act, Ohanaeze stressed that any lawful revocation of Rights of Occupancy requires advance notice and just compensation for affected property owners.
The statement further claimed that independent investigations conducted by Ohanaeze indicate the Lagos State government has breached its own Urban and Regional Development Law through these demolitions. Moreover, Ohanaeze alleged a noticeable absence of environmental impact assessments or consultations with stakeholders prior to the demolitions.
While urging Sanwo-Olu to halt these attacks on Igbo properties and investments in Lagos immediately, the group reminded the Governor that the Igbo community overwhelmingly supported him during his 2019 election campaign.
“Since his administration’s commencement, our records reveal that over 2,753 properties – houses, shops, and their valuable contents – have been callously demolished without due recourse to the owners, representing colossal losses amounting to approximately 23 trillion Naira in investments.
“It is incumbent upon us to confront these issues forthrightly, irrespective of any political sensitivities,” it said.
Ohanaeze also called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter and advocated for the reopening of the Calabar Seaport and other key infrastructure that have been non-operational for 59 years.
Finally, the group encouraged the Igbo community in Lagos to re-evaluate the sustainability of their investments in the state and to seriously explore the option of relocating their businesses to the Old Eastern Region, particularly the Southeast.
“The ‘Think Home’ philosophy (Akụ Ruo Ulo) is increasingly seen as the most viable strategy in response to the ongoing demolitions.
“Standing united, we shall confront these injustices and ardently defend the rights and livelihoods of the Igbo people,” the statement added.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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