January 5, 2022

Residents of Magodo Phase Two Estate in Lagos have described as disrespectful and unacceptable the altercation between a Chief Superintendent of Police and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who had visited the estate to calm frayed nerves over a land dispute.

The Governor was seen in a viral video arguing with a CSP who refused to obey the Governor’s directive that all the police officers who had laid siege to the estate in anticipated enforcement of a Supreme Court judgement leave the scene.

Sanwo-Olu’s directive fell on deaf ears as the CSP who claimed he was acting on the orders of AGF Abubakar Malami and IGP Usman Alkali Baba insisted he and his men can only leave the estate on a counter order from Abuja.

The spat between the CSP and the governor dragged to the dismay of residents and government officials who accompanied the governor to the estate.

But some residents of the estate who spoke to Political Economist described the resistance of the CSP as a show of shame.

“The police officer disrespected the Governor who is constitutionally the chief security officer of the state. I am sure that CSP was on illegal duty. This matter should be investigated and all the policemen who occupied the estate disciplined,” an angry resident who refused to give his name raged.

“This is unacceptable,” another resident identified as the owner of a couple of houses in the estate said.

He reminded the police hierarchy that the Governor has power under the law to revoke all the C of Os of all police formations in the state, should they allow a low-ranking CSP to “ridicule the Governor whose only mission in the estate was to bring about peace.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu had visited the estate to resolve the lingering land dispute in Magodo Phase Two Estate which came to a head Tuesday when policemen were seen taking vantage positions preparatory for an envisaged demolition of some buildings. Court bailiffs had also sealed some properties in the estate in the enforcement of the Supreme Court judgement.

The governor’s visit was therefore to restore peace as some residents had earlier staged a protest over the presence of policemen in the estate.

Chairman of the Estate, Bajo Osinubi, bemoaned the huge presence of policemen in the estate despite intervention by the governor.

Recall that in December last year, some police officers said to have been accompanied by hoodlums arrived at the estate with bulldozers.

The hoodlums marked some houses in the estate with an inscription which reads ‘ID/795/88 possession taken today 21/12/2021 by court order’ in what appeared to be a move to demolish the marked houses.

This created tension among the residents and landlord but the state government intervened and normalcy was restored.

The State government promised to investigate the matter with a caveat to prosecute any person found culpable.