Some land speculators in company with thugs and armed policemen on Monday invaded Kudeti street in the Adeniyi Jones area of Ikeja in Lagos to forcibly eject residents from the area.
It was learnt that thugs with weapons, suspected court papers and painting materials went from house to house to force people out of their homes with the support of gun-wielding policemen numbering about 30.
According to eyewitnesses, the infuriated residents and landlords trooped out en masse and confronted the invaders, alleging the court papers were fake.
One of the residents who identified himself as a customs officer said he had been living in the estate for over 20 years.
He said a similar incident occurred in 1986 when the same set of people invaded the estate with the same fake court judgement and embarked on massive destruction of properties and forcing residents out of their homes.
According to him, the then state Commissioner of Police, Young Arebamen who was alerted, swiftly took action and arrested some of them.
“We learned that when investigations to confirm the authenticity of their court order was conducted by the police, it was discovered to be fake. They were taken to court and jailed. We don’t know what happened to the policemen that accompanied them to carry out that illegal mission. But we were very happy with the police boss for coming to our aid.
“Today, they are back again after the kingpins completed serving their prison terms with the same fake court order and in the company with such a large number of policemen.”
It was gathered that the thugs later left after they saw that the residents were spoiling for a fight.
They, however, left after pasting court papers on the walls and gates of all the buildings there and defacing the walls with inscriptions, claiming that they had taken ownership.
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