A PEACE parley to resolve grey areas in the Supreme Court judgment on a land dispute between the Lagos State Government and the Shangisha/Magodo Landlords Association has ended in a deadlock.The apex's court had recently ruled that Lagos should allocate 549 plots to the landlords in Shangisha/Magodo or any other place of their choice.In a collective voice, the landowners rejected the state's offer to resettle the judgment creditors somewhere at either Badagry or Epe. But the landowners said that was unacceptable to them, more so, when there are still about 300 vacant plots' of land within the area.At a meeting held at the Ministry of Justice, Lagos State Secretariat, the State's Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, told the landlords that Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola was considering amicable solution to the Magodo land dispute, adding that the state was ready to comply with the Supreme Court judgment.According to him, the ministry had already briefed Governor Fashola on the step being taking to execute the judgment.He told the affected landlords to look beyond Shangisha/Magodo and consider Badagry and Epe, for allocation of plots in compliance with the judgment in their favour.Ipaye said that Fashola was ready to resolve the matter with the landowners in a peaceful way, since the Supreme Court has passed final judgment, adding that if the Shangisha landowners agreed with the alternative option in principle, then all relevant land agencies would be informed about the next move.He said that there was no way the Magodo landlords would be returned to the Shangisha where their houses were illegally demolished many years ago, because the state government had already sold the contested land to other users.The Commissioner, who persuaded the landowners to accept the state's offer, said the government was not ready for another round of litigation.'We called this meeting after the development of the Supreme Court judgment. We had briefed the governor on this, but he told us to expedite action on resolving the land matters because of the Supreme Court judgment. The governor has asked us to tell you if you will agree in principle the areas we are considering to get the equivalent plots of land, as ruled by the Supreme Court, so we could start making move on how to meet the relevant agencies relating to land acquisition.He continued, ' We cannot guarantee you the Magodo land scheme because all the allottees have in their possession Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) and we have already served them with Caveat Emptor since they are not part of the case. So, our position now is for you to be ready to take the possession of lands elsewhere outside Magodo. The only areas we know that we are capable of getting these plots of lands are in Badagry and Epe.'In his reaction, the Legal Adviser to the Shangisha Landowners, Mr. Kehinde Sofola, insisted that the government should ensure total compliance with the Supreme Court judgment by maintaining status quo, being verdict of the lower courts many years ago.But according to him, the Lagos State government should issue stay of execution and relocate the government allottees at Magodo to another land since the Supreme Court has given its final judgment that allocation of lands to his clients should be done at Magodo/ Shangisha area.He said the matter would not have degenerated to the level it is now, if the government had obeyed the High court verdict that allottees should 'stay clear of the land and that those building their houses at their own risk.'Chairman of the Shangisha/ Magodo landlords Association, Chief Adeyiga insisted that the Lagos State government must carry out the Supreme Court verdict, adding that Magodo land should be returned to them.According to him, the association has discovered about 300 vacant plots of lands there, adding that the state government should issue them Certificate of Occupancy with immediately effect as part of the step to resolve the land dispute.
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