Ayo Ola
An Abuja-based legal practitooner, Mr. Pelumi Olajengbesi has said that if the police were on a lawful duty in Magodo, and if they were there in company of court bailiffs and Sheriffs to enforce the Supreme Court order, the visit of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was an affront on the constitution and unnecessary showmanship.
In a statement, on Wednesday, he urged Nigerians to learn to separate their emotions from matters of law and logic.
Olajengbesi said, “I have always said that a nation’s history is not just a collection of stories but an aggregation of lessons and a guide for the present and future. Any true student of history will now appreciate the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Magodo Estate case which has led to an altercation between a serving Governor and a CSP of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Naturally, the Governor and his aides, supporters and arm-chair ‘otellectuals’ have rushed to town with the cry that the Governor has been slighted greatly. As far as optics and the perception of power goes, that episode between the Governor and an unbothered police officer is unfortunate. In another thought, it illustrates a deeper constitutional and institutional issue that needs to be redressed to forestall confrontations as such.
“I am, however, primarily concerned with whether the police were on a lawful duty in Magodo, and secondly if they were there in the company of court bailiffs and Sheriffs to enforce a valid court order? If the answers to my inquiries are in the affirmative, was it then lawful for Governor Sanwo-Olu to have tried to exercise powers that don’t exist under Section 215 of the Constitution 1999?”
He added, “Sheriffs/Bailiffs are empowered by law to levy execution or enforce judgment under Sections 7-12, 19, 104 – 112 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act, 2004. The police are likewise empowered by Section 15 of the same Act to assist the Sheriffs/Bailiffs in the execution of judgment.
“By inference, attempts by Governor Sanwo-Olu to stop the enforcement of judgment that the Lagos State Government had for many years frustrated is unlawful. He had no powers under the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act to stop the police and Sheriffs who were carrying out their lawful duties under the law.
“Nigerians must learn to separate their emotions from matters of law and logic. Governor Sanwo-Olu clearly had no business trying to interfere in a matter where an adverse judgment had been granted by a competent court against the government he leads. His visit to Magodo is an affront on the constitution and unnecessary showmanship. As far as due process goes, such an intrusion is questionable even if ostensibly embarked on to scurry public goodwill as many have suggested.”
Police officers and some suspected thugs, had on December 21, 2021 besieged the estate and marked buildings for demolition and claimed to be have come to effect a judgement of the Supreme Court.
The residents protested the presence of the policemen and the suspected thugs and shut the gate of the estate.
They called on Sanwo-Olu to intervene.
In response to their outcry, the governor, in the company of his cabinet members visited the estate to assess the development and address the residents.
The governor spoke with a Chief Superintendent of Police who led the police officers, who told him that they were sent there by the IGP and the AGF.
The CSP declined to call the IGP when the governor told him to do so on the ground that he was very junior to call his boss.
The governor who was miffed by the insubordination later spoke to journalists and left the estate, promising that a committee had been set to address issues surrounding the judgement.
It was learned that the Magodo estate phase 2 crisis was sequel to a 2012 Supreme Court judgment said to be in favour of the Shangisha Landlords represented by the Adeyiga family.
It was further gathered that the military government of Lagos State had in 1985 reportedly repossessed the property ‘illegally’ and allocated the same to private individuals.
