Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (2nd left); signing into Law the Kidnapping, Sports Trust Fund and Sports Commission Bills at the Conference Room, Lagos House, Ikeja, on Wednesday, February 1, 2017. With him are Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs) Oluranti Adebule (left); Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade (2nd right) and Special Adviser to the Governor, Office of Civic Engagement, Mr. Kehinde Joseph (right).Governor Akindwumi Ambode ordered the demolition of Otodo Gbame, a fishing, waterfront community in Lekki area of Lagos on March 17 against a court ruling issued on January 26 by a judge at the Lagos High Court.
While virtually all legal experts agree that evicting residents, who have lived in a land for over 300 years, without prior notice, against a court ruling and without alternative shelter, is illegal and unconstitutional, THE SIMON ATEBA NEWS, has gone a step further to understand what the law actually says about land management and revocation of land rights in Nigeria.
The LAND-USE-ACT-2004, which regulates the acquisition of land and revocation of land rights in Nigeria, “vests all Land compromised in the territory of each State (except land vested in the Federal government or its agencies) solely in the Governor of the State , who would hold such Land in trust for the people and would henceforth be responsible for allocation of land in all urban areas to individuals resident in the State and to organisations for residential, agriculture, commercial and other purposes while similar powers will with respect to non urban areas are conferred on Local Governments”.
In other words, all Land in urban Lagos is held in trust by the governor of the state, and all land in rural Lagos is held in trust by the local government where the land is located.
Otodo Gbame is located in urban Lagos, thus, it falls under the management of the governor. But, the Land Use Act says that the only reason the governor can relocate people or revoke the rights of occupancy, is for “overriding public interest”, and in that case, a process should be followed and compensation should be paid.
In the case of Otodo Gbame, the Lagos state government is accusing members of the community of posing serious security threats to Lagos without evidence and has not compensated residents, which is against the law.