By Abiola Olawale
The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has criticized the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State over an alleged demolition of his younger brother’s property in Ikeja.
Obi, a two-term governor of Anambra State alleged the destruction was carried out without a court order or legal notice, raising alarms about Nigeria’s crumbling rule of law.
Obi, who disclosed the incident via a post on his verified X handle, said the property, owned by his brother’s company, had stood for over 15 years before it was brought down.
He alleged that the demolition was carried out by unidentified persons acting on a vague court judgment that did not mention his brother, the property, or contain any demolition order.
He said: “This morning, my youngest brother called me frantically, informing me that a group had invaded his company property in Ikeja, Lagos, and were demolishing the building.
“He had just come in from Port Harcourt and was denied entry to the property by security men who told him the building was being pulled down.”
Obi said he flew in from Abuja to witness the scene firsthand.
On arrival, he was reportedly barred from entering the premises and was told that the demolition was being carried out pursuant to a court order.
However, according to Obi, the supposed judgment was addressed to unnamed squatters and did not include any demolition order or authorising documentation.
“How do you sue an unknown person? How does a court issue a judgment in such a farce of a case? No one was served. No name was written.
“Yet they showed up with excavators and began destroying a structure that had stood for over 15 years.
“I stood there from 10 am to 2 pm, waiting to get a call from whoever ordered the demolition. Nobody came. The contractor didn’t even know who sent him.
“Two men later came and said they would like us to go to a police station. I asked if they even had a demolition order but they had nothing. The whole situation screamed of coordinated lawlessness and impunity. Our country has become lawless.”
