Residents of Oke-Addo raises alarm over land-grabbing attempt

‎Residents of Oke Addo village, Ajah area of Lagos state have raised the alarm over land grabbing attempts by some officials alleged to be from the Lagos state government.

The royal family of Igbaro Eshinlokun Oteshade who is directly affected by the alleged trespass claim that their land is being allocated to companies, families and individuals without consultation.

During the protest, a representative of the Oke Addo family, Prince Malik K.O Eshinlokun, said, without consultation or any form of compensation, “our land is being unlawfully allocated to companies, families and individuals.”

He also said the family became suspicious of these people allocating land because of non-involvement of the Lands Bureau, Alausa, Ikeja, as it used to be in normal cases.

He further said: “The Igbaro Eshinlokun Oteshade royal family of Oko Addo village, Addo Nla town, Eti-Osa local government area, Lagos state are the beneficial owners of the vast area of land at Oko Addo Village, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Eti-Osa local government area.

“We got the land through inheritance under the Yoruba native law and custom from our great grandfather, namely, Igbaro Oteshade of Addo land who founded the area now known as Oko-Addo. The entire parcel of land was about 79,994 hectares.

“We have been in possession of this parcel of land and have been exercising various acts of ownership on the land by farming, building and even alienating portions of same to third parties without let or hindrance. This land has now almost been decimated through indiscriminate allocation of same to individuals, families and corporate bodies.

“All appeals to stop this illegality and unlawful act have fallen on deaf ears as our family land has now become a source of compensation to any interested party.

“We call on the Lagos State Government to help us stop this illegality by dealing with these land grabbers. They are not Lagos State Government officials. We believe that genuine Lagos State Government officials will not involve themselves in this type of illegality.”