On Monday, residents of some communities in Badagry, Lagos, trooped out in their thousands to protest land encroachment by the Nigerian Army.

The communities included Apanuko, Wharatome, Agblimakaku, Whawu and Jijoho, along Samuel Ekundayo Road, Badagry, Lagos.

Viavoh Mobee, the Baale of Apanuko, said the residents of the five communities staged the protest to register their displeasure over the encroachment of the land by the Army.

“The land in question had been released a long time ago by the army, but we were surprised about three years ago when the army started marking some of the buildings in those communities.

“A few days back we saw some soldiers going around the area. About two days back, we saw some people pegging the area, then on Saturday, they started excavating the land,” Mr Mobee said.

Ganiyu Akindokun, the secretary, Alaaafia Wharatome Community, said the land issue had been ongoing for many years and had been put to rest.

“We have sent a letter to the House of Representatives and Defence Headquarters in Abuja, and they promised to address the issues, but we are yet to see anyone,” he said.

The protesters marched down to Akran of Badagry’s Palace, Aholu Menu Toyi 1, where the monarch urged them to remain calm.

Commenting on the issue, a senior military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the Nigerian Army had gazetted all its landed property in the country.

He said that most protesters knew that they built their houses on military land.

He noted that the Army had settled most landowners a long time ago, but some people were selling the land to people because the land was not fenced.

Residents of the communities displayed placards with different inscriptions such as: “Our land is not Army land”, “Embargo has been placed on our land, please save our souls”, “People are dying because of Nigerian Army encroachment on our land, please save us”.

(NAN)