A real estate investor residing in the United States, Toyin Momodu, has expressed regret over what she claims is the Lagos State Government’s failure to return her land at SunnyField, Oko-Afo community, in the Badagry area of the state.
The PUNCH gathered that Momodu was issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the 2200 square meters of land by the Governor’s Office Site Bureau in 2012, however it was later revealed that hoodlums had encroached into the land.
She said that all attempts to regain her property had failed.
The 53-year-old mother on Monday claimed that while trying to regain the property, she lost her son and was taken advantage of.
She said, “After paying all my fees and dues for my commercial property at Sunny Field, I obtained my Certificate of Occupancy, only to learn that the land had been encroached on.
“When this happened, I followed the protocol by serving the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Building Control Agency and the Badagry Scheme Office a request to take ownership of the land. I travelled down to Nigeria and learnt that the building control agency had served the illegal occupants a notice of demolition, a development I was pleased with.
“I contacted the Badagry Scheme Officer at that time, one Mr Ayinde, and he invited me to his office. He also invited an Islamic cleric, who claimed to have built a mosque on a part of my land.
“During our discussion, they pleaded with me to spare his (Islamic cleric) illegal property from being demolished and that he was ready to pay for the land he was occupying. Out of empathy, I said I was ready to give him a part of the land as long as I still have little remaining to build my dream hotel.
“Mr Ayinde told me that they would do the measurement the second day and get back to me. That was the last discussion I had with him. I called him severally, but when he eventually responded, he told me that the Islamic cleric was not one of the occupants, but refused to tell me who the occupants were. He even threatened and told me to be quiet or alternately I could go and report him to the governor.
“Within a couple of weeks, my 16-year-old son, who travelled with me to Nigeria from Florida, died. I returned abroad alone without my son with a heavy and bleeding heart.
“Two workers of the state government also defrauded me of hundreds of thousands of naira while I was trying to pay land use charges on another property.
“I was directed to the commissioner of finance, who never responded to my messages. Then to the legal department, which first told me that all issues would be resolved. But now, they neither respond to any of my messages nor pick up my calls.”
Our correspondent sighted the Certificate of Occupancy, a letter written by the victim to the Lagos State Building Control Agency over the encroachment on her land and a confirmation of payment made for the land by the Lagos State Land Use and Allocation Committee.
The PUNCH obtained an email dated August 2022, sent by the victim to the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, seeking his intervention in the matter.
She said nobody had responded to her.
