Yoruba socio-cultural group, Ìgbìnmó Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, has accused the Lagos State Government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of forcibly taking over ancestral lands in Makoko and other waterfront communities, alleging that residents are being violently displaced through the deployment of armed police and task force operatives, leading to shootings, casualties and reported deaths, while also criticising the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, for what it described as his silence and alleged endorsement of the state’s actions, as the group said in a statement signed by its Convener, Olusola Badero, and released by its Home Director, Princess Balogun, that police operatives stormed Makoko and surrounding areas under the pretext of urban renewal and security operations, firing shots and forcing families from their homes, stating, “Oba Akiolu is watching how Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is taking over Makoko people’s ancestral homes, sending police task forces to shoot at them and render them internally displaced persons in their own land,” and alleging that similar operations previously occurred in Oworonshoki with reported deaths, while lamenting the failure of traditional institutions to protect the people, warning that Governor Sanwo-Olu has become “notorious in grabbing people’s lands,” and calling on Oba Akiolu to intervene, demand the return of seized ancestral lands, ensure compensation for affected families, and uphold Yoruba values of justice and the Ọmọlúàbí ethos, insisting, “We respect our monarchs, but respect does not mean silence in the face of injustice.”
