Lagos women threaten nude protest over destruction of ancestral home
Protesters from the socio-cultural group Egbe Omo Ilaje were at the Lagos State House of Assembly Complex on Tuesday to demand intervention from the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa over the destruction of their ancestral homes and settlements by some traditional rulers in the State, accusing them of land grabbing.
The women requested the Governor and the Speaker to call the traditional rulers to order to enable them live peacefully in their communities, threatening to stage a nude protest next should the government fail to meet their demands.
“We are the founders of Lagos. We hailed from Ilaje before settling in Ebute-Ero, which was then known as Olobun. Should the government fail to meet our demands, we, women, will organise a nude protest and storm the palace of these monarchs. We want the government to come to our aid,” one of the protesters Ifagbemi said.
It was also alleged by the President-General of Egbe Omo Ilaje Worldwide, Prince Iwamitigha Raphael Irowainu, that the monarch uses President Bola Tinubu as a pretext to destroy people’s homes, stating that some of the traditional rulers are not indigenes of the communities.
“We have come here today to report some royal fathers who have turned themselves into land grabbers. I’ve never seen anywhere else where royal fathers become lawless, except in Nigeria.
“They claim President Tinubu sent them, but I assure you he did not. They are only using his name to carry out fraudulent activities.
“None of these monarchs created Lagos. They suppress us because of their political advantage. How will a king, who is supposed to uphold justice, just wake up one day and demolish people’s homes?” he said.
“We are here to vent our grievances and submit our petition to the Governor and the Speaker. We are the bona fide indigenes of Lagos. We are Yoruba, not aliens in this state.
“When you chase people out of their ancestral homes without any court order, you are creating more criminals. The Governor should tell the Obas to desist from selling our lands. We want everyone whose houses and properties were destroyed to be compensated,” Irowainu added.
The Lagos State Chairman of Egbe Omo Ilaje, Prince Oluwajimusu also condemned the actions of the monarchs, saying: “There is no way you will write the history of Lagos without mentioning Ilaje as one of the first settlers. What is happening is unethical and unjust to the entire Ilaje nation. We will decide our fate in 2027. We are not slaves.”
