Real estate firm partially demolished house I suffered to build

AJIBADE OMAPE speaks with Adegoke Olalekan, a bricklayer who is seeking justice after a real estate company allegedly came with policemen and bulldozers to partially destroy his and other houses in an Ogun State neighbourhood

What led to the demolition of your house?

My name is Adegoke Olalekan, I hail from Osun State, and I live in the Okeiran area of Mowe, Ogun State. I am a tiler and bricklayer, I was born into a family of Muslims, and I have five children who live with me in a house that has almost been destroyed. I cannot say in particular what circumstances surrounded the demolition of my house, but the demolition happened on Friday, February 23, 2024, after most of the residents of the community had gone to work; it took a little while before I decided to leave for work that day and the few residents still around saw some policemen at the junction to our street, who came with three bulldozers.

I was very surprised to see them and wondered what was going on. We called some other residents who had not gone too far to come back and find out what the policemen wanted to do with the caterpillars, and some men went to meet the policemen to ask them what they wanted and what happened, the policemen pointed to our sites saying they had something to do there, they refused to tell us anything else and we were not notified of their arrival before they came, not long after the little encounter we had with them, the policemen and the caterpillars went towards the houses and the caterpillars started destroying buildings, and that was what happened.

We noticed some people with the policemen and when we approached them, they claimed to be from the town planning department, but we disagreed because town planning people would not destroy houses that have the necessary documents, and there were so many buildings in the area whose owners do not have the requisite papers; we asked them to present a written document backing their action, but they refused to respond; we insisted that if they were from the town planning department, the department would have notified and served us the necessary notices.

It was in the middle of this discussion that we noticed agents of a real estate development company, who claimed that they had previously purchased the pieces of land on which our houses were built, but there were no documents to prove to us that their claims were true; the agents made several contradictory statements regarding when the company purchased the pieces of land but there was no proof.

 What were the conditions surrounding the acquisition of the plots of land and were there legal proceedings or negotiations involved?

 I was not given any conditions by the ‘omoonile’ or family when I bought my piece of land; I bought my piece of land legally and obtained the relevant papers for the purchase. I acquired the land on which I built my house with complete papers, which were handed to me by the family. When I bought the land in 2015, I made sure to involve the ‘omoonile’ as well and I have all the receipts that I received from the family, so there is no situation of fake land documents with me. I have not had any issues with the land ever since I purchased it up until when the estate agents came to destroy our place.

 Did you receive any previous notice or communication regarding the intention to demolish your house?

 To be honest, we did not receive any prior notice or communication regarding any intention by the so-called town planning department to destroy our houses. We approached them to show us a letter of demolition or any document that permitted them to demolish our buildings, but our efforts did not yield any response from them; instead, they proceeded to destroy the buildings and we could not intervene because of the heavy presence of security personnel present on the scene.

Were there any permits or approvals obtained for the demolition, and were you allowed to challenge or appeal the decision?

 No, we did not receive any papers; we requested a demolition permit from them but there was nothing presented to us and we didn’t see any papers stating their authority to demolish the houses; they refused to respond to us. When the people around tried using their phones to record the melee, the policemen seized the phones and even asked them to kneel for trying to make use of their phones; it was after the bulldozers had finished destroying the buildings that the policemen returned some of the phones and I am sure they did not return all.

They just want to cheat us as members of the lower class. I worked as a bricklayer to build my small three-bedroom house so that I could provide shelter for my wife and children because rent has become too expensive to pay; if you take a look at this area, it is bushy and not well developed; I feel that they just want to exploit us because we have not committed any offence.

 What efforts did you make to seek remedy or legal assistance after the demolition of your house?

 We have not taken any legal steps; we haven’t done anything like that. We are still thinking about the possible outcome of their action, maybe they would request some money or something else, but we have not spoken to any authorities, and besides, the majority of us here are below the middle class and we are looking to God as we have no power for any legal actions at the moment. We have made efforts to come together and think of a solution but nothing has come up yet.

 Can you describe the extent of the damage caused by the demolition in terms of property loss and emotional pain?

 The bulldozers were just destroying walls of houses and roofs; neither the policemen nor the officials from the real estate company or those from the town planning department asked anyone to leave or stay. Since the incident happened, many people have not been in sound health; a lot of the landlords collapsed and fainted as a result of the demolition. I have been nursing my wife’s high blood pressure ever since the incident, so now I am looking for money for food and also looking for extra money for my wife’s well-being; it is not easy because these houses are our investments.

Have you been given any form of compensation or assistance to mitigate the loss you suffered from the demolition of your house?

 There has been no compensation or assistance whatsoever, and we do not even have an idea of what they will want to do when they eventually come back to the area, and we do not have anyone who will rescue us at the moment and we do not know their plans when they come back and that is the fear of everybody around. The policemen, real estate agents, and other officials did not ask us to leave, nor did they tell us of the plan, they just destroyed buildings and left. According to what people have said around, the developers want to build an estate and we do not have the powers to build an estate that is why we all bought our lands separately and we still have the family receipts for the parcel of land that we bought from the ‘omoonile’ and there are no empty lands on the site, although there are several uncompleted buildings in the place.

 What impact has the demolition had on your living arrangements, livelihood, and overall well-being as a community?

 I can’t lie; it has affected the living arrangements and livelihood of my family, and almost every other person. To begin with, the part of my house that got destroyed by the bulldozers will cost me over 70 cement blocks to repair. Now I have to start thinking of how I will get that done in this economic crisis that we are facing; I know that the price of cement has increased and other building materials like sand and granite have also increased in price; it will be very difficult for some of us to even go out and work because we are not sure of the time that the real estate agent and officials from town planning would return with the bulldozers and destroy the place we live in, so we are all in fear right now.

We do not have anybody to run to, and it is not like we live in an estate, it is just a community where we all live. We are just hoping that the government will come to our aid; we had plans to do some major work on our road just before the incident occurred; we are trying to have a meeting at the moment but we are still very conscious of the time that these agents will return to complete the demolition of our place.

 How do you perceive the actions of the real estate developer and the officials from the urban and regional development about the demolition of your house?

 It is a very terrible situation that could lead to a quick death, and it makes someone question his good work and efforts. I did an honest job building my house with the money I made from bricklaying in December 2022; it has been over a year now since I moved in with my wife and children; the other people also worked in different jobs to build their respective houses, and now the estate agents want to tear down their sweat.

 What are your expectations and hopes for obtaining justice and compensation for the demolition of your house?

 Honestly, I am hoping that the government can help us because most of the people here do not have anywhere to go; initially, when the agents came with policemen and bulldozers, we tried to speak with them but they were not responding and when we requested for papers that authorised them to take action against us, nothing was presented to us so I believe if the government can come to our rescue we will get justice.

How has the community responded to the demolition of your houses, and has there been any solidarity or support on your behalf?

 Well, the neighbours have continually expressed their sympathy with us but most importantly, we have not got anyone to stand up for us; it has all just been messages from neighbours showing their sympathy, but what we want right now is for someone to help us to stop the demolition of our homes; we do not have anywhere else to go.

What message would you like to express to the public and investors regarding the importance of protecting property?

 We want the help of Nigerians who are influential in society; we need their intervention because we feel cheated by the real estate developers, who did not provide any documents before destroying our buildings. So we want the youth and other people to help us.