The Divine Homes Community Development Area (CDA) members told reporters yesterday that the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2 intervened to prevent a breach of peace in the peaceful community.
The storm is brewing in the Divine Homes estate in the Ajah area of Lagos, where residents are complaining about the harassment and intimidation tactics used by a resident who is accused of trying to force himself on them as the estate’s chairman.
The accused resident (names withheld) did not meet the qualifications for the position but had allegedly been using policemen from Zone 2 to bully and harass members of the estate’s executive committee for years.
The estate has been self-managed for years, with inhabitants helping to develop it, according to Adepoju Abiodun, chairman of the estate. However, a recent attempt by one person to take over the estate through the back door thrown the entire community into disarray.
According to him, “No one can bully us into giving up control of the estate. We are law-abiding citizens who demand respect for the law. We urge the Nigeria Police Force and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to ensure that their personnel respect the law and do not allow anyone to take over our estate through illegal means.”
Another resident, Mr. Obioha Okengwu, clarified in his remarks that the first requirement for running for the position of Chairman of the estate was to be a landlord rather than a renter.
He said, “We have a resident who wants to take the back door to become the chairman of the estate, without being a landlord, as stipulated in the estate’s constitution. He would use policemen from Zone 2 to harass the executive committee of this estate. He also brought Mobile policemen on many occasions.
“At times, he would claim he was kidnapped and then pick up any executive committee member and people he met in the street, harassing them and taking them to Zone 2. He also claimed that he was extorted and assaulted. On many occasions, he had gone to various police formations to make fictitious claims against residents of the estate.”
Expressing the executives’ demands, he said, “We want the present AIG Zone 2, who has shown professionalism so far, to keep the pact he made and maintain the professionalism of his policemen. Unfortunately, we didn’t experience this level of professionalism with past AIGs.”
Furthermore, he said, “During our last meeting with the current AIG, he stated that all parties should maintain the status quo until the cases are determined in court.”
Corroborating claims that the accused tenant was not a landlord, one of the residents, Mrs. Adanne Okunola, claimed to be the landlady of the alleged controversial tenant. According to her, “My property, a house located at Number 3, Akinwale Shittu, Divine Homes, has been rented to a tenant (names withheld) for a one-year period. However, he is now challenging my ownership of the property and has taken me to court after swearing an affidavit of ownership of my land.”
As gathered, the case was still pending in court.
In order to stop additional harassment by security personnel that one of the residents had hired, some of the residents who were upset about the development organized a nonviolent demonstration at the estate gate. One of them, Mr. Nnamdi Agbakogba, was unable to conceal his dismay at the entire situation and voiced confusion at the person’s boldness, emphasizing that Nigerian democracy cannot tolerate such impunity.
However, sources at the Zone 2 Command told press that as soon as AIG Adegoke learned of the alleged harassment by zone police officers, he assigned a team of officers, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, to conduct a covert investigation into the current condition of affairs in the estate. According to reports, AIG Adegoke spoke with all stakeholders and requested peace after ordering some police officers stationed at the estate gate to depart right away.