Women from the Ilaje community in Lagos State have threatened to embark on nude demonstrations to protest what they described as the persistent destruction of their ancestral settlements.
On Tuesday, despite heavy rainfall, hundreds of protesters under the banner of Egbe Omo Ilaje marched to the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa, Ikeja, calling on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Speaker Mudashiru Obasa to intervene urgently.
The protesters, who carried placards, accused some traditional rulers in the state of allegedly acting as “land grabbers” and orchestrating the demolition of Ilaje communities.
One of the elderly protesters, who identified herself as Ifagbemi, vowed that she and other women were prepared to stage a nude protest at the palaces of the monarchs involved if the government failed to take decisive action.
She said, “We are the original settlers of Lagos. Our ancestors moved from Ilaje to Ebute-Ero, formerly called Olobun. If the government refuses to meet our demands, we will strip ourselves and storm the palaces of these monarchs. We want peace, and we want justice.”
The President-General of Egbe Omo Ilaje Worldwide, Rafael Irowainu, accused certain monarchs of exploiting the name of President Bola Tinubu to justify unlawful demolitions.
He said, “Some royal fathers have abandoned their duty of upholding justice and turned themselves into land grabbers. They falsely claim that President Tinubu sent them, but we know he did not. These actions are fraudulent and lawless.”
He alleged that some of the monarchs fueling the crisis were not even indigenes of Lagos but hailed from Osun and Ekiti states.
“None of these monarchs built Lagos. Yet, they oppress us because of political advantage. How can a king demolish people’s homes without legal authority? We are the true indigenes of Lagos. We are Yoruba, not strangers.
“These demolitions without court orders will only worsen insecurity and homelessness,” he warned, calling for compensation for affected families.
Another protester, Wole Adewusi, lamented that many landlords had lost their homes and properties, leaving families in hardship. “Our wives and children are suffering. We are appealing to Governor Sanwo-Olu to rescue us from these so-called Obas who have turned into land grabbers,” he said.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Chairman of Egbe Omo Ilaje, Prince Oluwajimusu, condemned what he termed deliberate attempts to erase Ilaje heritage.
“You cannot write the history of Lagos without mentioning Ilaje as one of the first settlers. What is happening is unjust to our people. We will not continue to live as slaves in our own land. By 2027, we will decide our political future,” he declared.
