RESIDENTS of a community in Oluti, Amuwo Kuje area of Lagos have decried the demolition of their houses by men and officers of the Nigerian Navy, adding that the whereabouts of two persons, after the exercise, were unknown.
Speaking to Vanguard, Mr. Andrew Uviase, one of the residents, said seven people have been hospitalised as no notice was given to them before the exercise was carried out.
Uviase said people went to work and came back to see their houses demolished.
He said he had removed the doors and windows of his house so as to save them from being destroyed, as the Navy said they will be back.
He said: “The Naval officers came with their bulldozers, armed with guns, and started demolishing peoples’ houses. Some people were too shocked—they fainted.”
The Alamuwo of Amuwo Kuje, Oba Isaac Owolabi Olayemi, said the community has petitioned Police and Naval authorities.
He also said if the matter was not resolved, they will go to court to seek redress.
Reacting, the Information Officer, Nigerian Navy, Navy Town, Lieutenant Commander Priscilla Iyorivbe, refuted the claims of the community that two people were missing, adding that nobody was touched.
She explained that residents of the affected area were encroaching on Navy land and the authorities had to do the needful.
Iyorivbe said Navy Town is a security zone that must be protected at all times.