Kunle Adelabu
The Lagos State Government, through its agency incharge of building control, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, served a contravention notice to Oriwu College and those that unlawfully pulled down the college fence and erected a gate in its stead.
The illegal pulling down of a section of the school fence and encroachment into the school land by some unknown persons have generated lots of condemnation from the members of the public with many describing the action as a blatant effrontery and invasion on the common heritage of Ikorodu Division.
Chieftains and members of the Oriwu College Old Students’ Association of Nigeria (OCOSAN) have also described the encroachment as direct threat on students and staff of the school while they equally expressed their readiness to challenge the action in court.
They also called on the government to swiftly act on the matter.
The contravention notice by the state government’s agency states that the erected gate is an encroachment on Oriwu College property and that the construction is being done without statutory development permit/authorization.
It also asked those erecting the gate to produce documents in support of their case if the notice of contravention is disputed.
In addition, the notice also directed the restoration of the land to its original state by removing the contravention if those involved are not contesting the notice of contravention.
It added that the said contravention will be removed after 48 hours (2 days) if those that erected the gate failed to act accordingly.
Another notice, ‘stop –work order’, was also served on the same day by LASBCA.
Meanwhile, a neighbor of Oriwu College of about fourty (40) years, Sir Soji Onafowokan,KWC, a printer, publisher and music director who resides at No. 3, Igbe Road, Ikorodu, spoke with THE IMPACT on Wednesday, May 13,2020, and narrated his encounter with about 40 men that pulled down the College fence and erected the gate.
He said that the men, whom he referred to as landgrabbers, claimed to be members of the Ladugba family in Igbogbo.
“My dad, late Barister Oladunni Onafowokan, built this house (the house where he resides close to Oriwu College) and as far as I can recollect, the house has been there since 1981”, Sir Onafowokan stated.
“I wasn’t around when the incident happened last week, but somebody called to informed me that some men were pulling down the College gate near my house and wanted to erect a gate and I told the person that called to ask the men what their mission is.
“What I was told was that they were there to claim their land and that they have gotten a judgement from court in that regard.
“They also said that the traditional rulers in Ikorodu and Igbogbo kingdoms are aware of the judgement and that they have been given the go ahead to act on it.
“But when I demanded for the copies of the judgement, they were unable to produce any but insisted on pulling down the College fence”.
Sir Onafowokan said that he told the men that he is going to pull down the gate if erected since it is on his setback and they cannot present any document backing their claims.
He added that the men did not say that any of the lands of Oriwu College neighbours is included in the land that they are claiming.
“I also warned them that I will pull down the gate if they erected it because that particular place falls on the setback between my house and Oriwu College.
“They never mentioned that my house is included in their judgement. They were only saying that they wanted to take their land from Oriwu College which they claimed stole over 75 acres of land from them.
“None of the other properties that belong to other neighbours around the area were said to be included in their said judgment except Oriwu College land”, he emphasized.
“They were about 40 in number that came on that particular evening, but I don’t know any of them by name but I can identify them if I see them”, he said when asked about the identity of the culprits.
Sir Onafowokan stated that he was determined to block the damaged fence the following day, but he was stopped by same guys that pulled down the fence with a team of policemen from Area ‘N’ Command whom he said threatened to arrest him.
“Unfortunately, while I was trying to do that the next day, those guys brought in a team of policemen from Area ‘N’ Command. The officers told me that their Commander has ordered my arrest, but some friends prevented them from arresting me on the ground that those that brought the police are the ones trespassing on my property and that of the college”, he said.
He said that the Onafowokans and other neighbours to Oriwu College have maintained cordial relationship with the College over the years.
“Over the years, while growing up, our relationship as neighbours to OrIwu College has been very cordial. We have seen many Principals being posted here without any issue.
“The section of the school fence where those guys pulled down to erect a gate had fallen many times, and the responsibility of fixing it always lie on either the school or we as people living around the school vicinity.
“I can tell you that the school had fixed the fallen fence about two or three times and we had also done so twice”.
Like many others, Onafowokan condemned the incursion into the school property.
“The act is an incursion into the premises of Oriwu College and I condemn their act so are many other people in the area”.
He said that government could use the land for other developmental projects like building of primary school to serve Igbe community instead of allowing private individuals to take over it.
“That the land is there doesn’t mean that government will not use it for further developmental projects. The family has given the land for the school project and I believe that it was done in good faith. They should allow the school and the government to do whatever they like with it”, he said.
“That particular land could be used to build another primary school to serve Igbe and adjoining areas to prevent children in these areas from going far distance to attend primary schools. That would be a plus to Igbogbo and Ikorodu instead for some individuals to be scrambling for it”, he suggested.
“The government should see this set of people as landgrabbers and they should be arrested and prosecuted.
“I think Oriwu College and government are on top of the matter. I know that they are working towards blocking the fence.
“I also got another information yesterday (Tuesday, May 12) that some people came from Alausa and marked the gate for removal including other things there.
“I will implore the school management to just remove the gate and re-erected the fence because those Omo-Oniles will not relent in their mission”, he said.
When contacted, sources within the Oriwu College Old Students’ Association of Nigeria (OCOSAN) denied that there is any court judgment on the said land.
THE IMPACT was also reliably informed that the Area N Command denied sending any team of policemen to act on the land or effect any arrest.
