Akinkunmi Olapade, a resident of Oke-Ira community in Ikorodu, Lagos, has revealed how his sister died of shock after they lost landed property to Lagos State government’s demolitions in the area on May 31.

In an interview on Sunday, Olapade told The PUNCH that his sister passed away shortly after the state government demolished her property.

“I am a victim of the building demolition. I lost my house to the demolition. I also lost my sister to it,” Olapade was quoted to have said.

“She went into shock on hearing the news about the demolition. She was rushed to the hospital, but she eventually died. She previously had an underlying ailment of high blood pressure. The news of the demolition aggravated her condition, leading to her death.”

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According to Olapade, this property was worth about N25,000,000. Olapade also owned a house in Oke-Ira community where he, his wife, his mother, and three children lived. He helped his sister purchase a land in the community in December 2019 where she built a two-bedroom flat and two miniflats. Olapade said his sister considered the property “a plan for the future” which her children could inherit.

Olapade’s late sister did not have a certificate of occupancy for her property. He claimed that she bought her land from the royal family of Oke-Ira and got a receipt.

“What I know is that the place has been fenced by a company called Nichemtex Cooperative that bought land there. When Igbogbo people took them to court, Igbogbo people won. The case Igbogbo people made with them was that the people that sold land to them (Nichemtex) were not the bona fide owners of that land,” he said.

“The people that sold the land to the company (Nichemtex) are Oniri Ajibode family. Now, the Oke-Ira family, which is Ogunbiyi, is under Igbogbo kingdom. The king of Igbogbo took them to court and won; they appealed, they still lost. That was the reason everyone started buying land from this family.

“The acre of land the company bought, this family didn’t touch it but the company went as far as collecting the certificate of ownership for a vast chunk of land. They were not specific about the boundaries of the land they bought.”

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Olapade also said that the state government failed to give any notice before the demolition. The Lagos State Physical Town Planning, mobile policemen and others demolished Olapade’s house among several others while he was away.

“I was working at Ajah. I came back by ferry when I was informed of what was going on. When I got back, they had already demolished my house,” he said.

“Life has been hell. You know what it means when you had a home and you don’t have anymore, family scattered.”

Olapade estimated his property to be worth N30,000,000. His sister has since been buried according to Islamic rites.