Lagos allocates land to Shangisha landlords, ending 40-year Magodo dispute
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Lagos State has allocated land to the Shangisha Landlords Association in Magodo GRA Phase 2, moving to enforce a 2012 Supreme Court judgment after a dispute that has run for about four decades.
The Lagos State Government has allocated parcels of land to members of the Shangisha Landlords Association in Magodo GRA Phase 2, giving relief to property owners whose claim over the area has run for about four decades.
The allocation follows the Supreme Court's 2012 judgment in favour of the landowners. At a meeting in Alausa, the state Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Hameed Oyenuga, presented a map of the allocated area on behalf of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), to explain how the parcels would be distributed among the beneficiaries.
Association chairman Chief Adebayo Adeyiga said the allocation was a significant step towards enforcing the judgment and paid tribute to members who did not live to see it. “I am very joyful that I am alive. So many of us who started this case are no more,” he said, adding that the state government has a responsibility to provide infrastructure on the site now that the court has ruled in the claimants' favour.
The Baale of Shangisha, Yusuf Mutiu Ogundare, and the Onirolu of Irolu, Oba Sikiru Adeyiga, who is among the judgment creditors, welcomed the allocation and thanked the Lagos State Government, the Attorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police for intervening to ensure the judgment was implemented.
Lawyer Deji Fasusi, who represents the judgment creditors, described the allocation as a victory for the rule of law and said the government's intervention had turned the court's decision into reality. He urged the state to provide access roads and other essential services so that beneficiaries can develop their plots, and to complete the remaining allocations in subsequent phases of the exercise.
The landowners said they had accepted the allocation despite concerns about its location and the resources needed to make it habitable, and appealed to residents and other stakeholders to remain calm and cooperate as the process continues.