Governor Babajide Sanwoolu of Lagos State has been asked to obey the order of court in respect of the relocation of timber dealers from the Okobaba Foreshore in Ebute-Metta, Lagos. Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, made this call in a press statement he issued in Lagos on Monday, August 26, 2024.

Timber dealers, sawyers and other stakeholders had approached the Federal High Court, Lagos Division in April 2016, to stop the planned forceful eviction of all occupants of the Okobaba Foreshore in Ebute-Metta to Agbowa Ikosi in Lagos State, without a concrete alternative location for their trades and businesses. Listed as defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Government, the Governor of Lagos State, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development and the National Inland Waterways Authority.

In the said suit, timber dealers, sawyers, tugboat owners, pullers and other stakeholders are contending that Lagos State Government should not force them out of the Okobaba Foreshore without an alternative location suitable for their businesses and trades. The plaintiffs in the suit are claiming that they have occupied the foreshore lawfully since early 1950, they have developed the foreshore, and they have their businesses there through which they maintain themselves and their families. They claimed that their forceful eviction was to pave the way for the allocation of their land and places of occupation to strange developers who were never part of the efforts made to develop the Okobaba Foreshore, spanning decades of improvement upon the land. On the other hand, the Lagos State Government claimed that it has an alternative location for the plaintiffs in Agbowa Ikosi which it has developed as a permanent site. The plaintiffs however visited the said location and discovered that it was not developed and there are no allocations suitable for their business. They therefore sought an order of injunction to restrain the Lagos State Government from implementing their forceful eviction without developing the alternative location. The Court directed all parties in the suit to maintain the status quo and further directed the Attorney-General of Lagos State to convene a meeting of all the stakeholders and the government towards a mutual resolution of all the issues in controversy. There has been no compliance with the order of the court by the Lagos State Government.

When the case came up before the Federal High Court on July 17th, 2024, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN informed the court that Lagos State Government has not complied with the pending order of the court, and it is seeking to forcefully evict the plaintiffs whilst the suit is still pending in court. He narrated several efforts that he has made to reach out to the defendants, including several letters written to the Attorney-General of Lagos State to ensure a harmonious resolution, all of which have not yielded fruitful results. He therefore applied for an order to stop the forceful eviction of the plaintiffs from the Okobaba Foreshore. In its ruling, the Court made the following orders:

“1. That the Attorney-General of Lagos State being a party to this suit is hereby directed to advise the Lagos State Government and the Defendants not to resort to self-help particularly at this stage when the court has directed a resolution of the issues in this suit.

2. That the Hon. Attorney-General of Lagos State is also hereby directed to ensure that the issues herein are resolved, particularly that of relocation without resort to self-help.

3. That the order shall be served on the Hon. Attorney-General of Lagos State and the other defendants.

4. That the Hon. Attorney-General of Lagos State shall report compliance to the court on 2/10/2024.

5. That this matter is adjourned to 2/10/2024.”

The order of the court was duly served on the Attorney-General of Lagos State by the court bailiff and a letter was also written to the Governor of Lagos State and the Attorney-General by counsel to the plaintiff to which the order of court was duly attached. Notwithstanding the pending order of the court, the Lagos State Government proceeded to stop all timber logs from getting to Lagos at the Okobaba Foreshore and it has further arrested and detained the plaintiffs through the Task Force. Some of the timber logs are heavy logs that are subject to tidal waves which will scatter or sink, thus leading to losses in millions of Naira. All the timber logs are currently at Epe with the threat of arrest of all the tugboat owners if they attempt to transport the timber logs to Okobaba Foreshore.

Whereas the plaintiffs are open to discussions on the resolution of all issues, Mr. Adegboruwa urged the Governor Sanwoolu to respect the rule of law and the pending order of the Court. The plaintiffs are also Lagosians and Nigerians who deserve the protection and support of the government In their quest to earn a decent living through their sweat and investments. He urged the governor to save the families and investments of the plaintiffs, some of whom have since developed health complications following the danger posed to their investments by the stoppage of their businesses.

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