By Seyi Odewale
Confusion and panic enveloped stranded residents of Magodo, a Lagos high-brow estate yesterday, when they were locked out of their estate by men of the anti-riot police, who escorted landowners to enforce a Supreme Court’s judgment after over 38 years of dispute on the land.

The stern-looking policemen took over the area to execute a Supreme Court judgment which mandated the Lagos State Government to give back 549 plots of land it fraudulently acquired over 38 years to their original owners.

The Lagos State government under the military fraudulently took over the plots of land from the original owners in Shangisha under the guise of planning to build an international standard hospital there.

But the Lagos government reneged on the promise and started allocating the lands to government officials and their cronies. The disputed land is what is today known as the high-brow Magodo area of Lagos State.

The landlords had sought justice for the past 38 years even when the apex court in the land had given them judgment six years ago and ordered the state government to vacate the lands.

Panic gripped landlords and residents as men of the anti-riot police were stationed at strategic areas, as more than one thousand youths apparently recruited by the Shangisha Landlords’ Association moved from one house to the other, marking the affected buildings for possession.

The inscription on each house indicated that the court had given them possession of the land where the houses were built.

It would be recalled that the military government had acquired the area for public use, but later sold the land to government officials and their cronies, the situation which made the original owners through Shangisha Landlords’ Association to approach the high court for redress.

The court then ruled that both parties should maintain the status quo in the area, that is both parties should vacate the land until final determination of the case. But in disregard of the court order, the state government continued to sell the land. The high court eventually, in its final judgment, ordered the state government to give the association and its members 549 plots of land as a matter of priority.

Dissatisfied with the high court judgment, the government approached the appeal court, which affirmed the judgment of the lower court on the matter and ordered that Lagos State should as a matter of priority give back 549 plots of the land to the original landowners in the association of Shangisha landlords.

The matter went on to the Supreme Court, which also affirmed the judgment of lower courts. The Supreme Court judgment was handed down six years ago, but the Lagos State government refused to execute the judgment.

The police stormed the area at about 2.30pm on Tuesday to maintain law and order while marking of the houses supervised by a court bailiff was ongoing.

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Many of the landlords occupying the acquired property said they bought their land from the Lagos state government, adding that they were not aware of any litigation on the land as they were issued certificates of occupancy (CofO).

Speaking on behalf of the landowners, Adegiya said they had done and exhausted what was expected of law-abiding citizens by following the due process in the matter, but the Lagos State government had not deemed it necessary to obey court orders.