Land grabbers kill man in Lagos over land tussle

The family of Samson Akinde, who died from the injuries he sustained during an attack by alleged land-grabbers at the boundary between Isheri-Fagbile and Amuwo-Kuje areas of  White Sand in Lagos State has demanded justice over his death.

The White Sand is located between the Ikotun-Igando Local Council Development and the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government areas of the state.

It was gathered that two families were laying claims to the ownership of the land at White Sand and were set to meet to agree on the boundaries when the land-grabbers allegedly invaded the venue of the meeting.

It was learnt that the land-grabbers were allegedly mobilised by a faction of one of the families and used sophisticated weapons to disrupt the gathering and in the process attacked Samson.

Samson’s elder brother, Segun, who witnessed the incident, alleged that the father of eight died from the injuries he sustained during the attack, and called for justice for the victim.

The 57-year-old said, “We are from the Fagbile family that owns the land at White Sand, but because we share boundaries with the Amuwo-Kuje family, they usually take advantage of that to claim ownership of the land.

“So, on Thursday around 10.30am, both families decided to bring our surveyors for a meeting to map out the boundaries. But the meeting could not hold because one of the surveyors did not come.

“Suddenly, we saw some land-grabbers with sophisticated weapons and we quickly alerted security agents and some of them were arrested and two of their vehicles were impounded. About 27 cutlasses and different types of charms were found in the vehicles.

“It was during the arrest that some of the land-grabbers started attacking our labourers and because my brother was fat, he could not run fast and they caught up with him and attacked him with cutlasses and charms.

“When they realised that we had regrouped and closing in on them, they ran away. I quickly rushed my brother to the Bucknor Hospital and the doctor said his blood pressure was high and gave him some drugs and told us to take him home to rest.

“But when his condition worsened, we had to take him to a native doctor at Egan, where he died. I want justice because the other family has been using the land-grabbers to terrorise us; the land-grabbers were even accompanied by a riot policeman; but the police were able to arrest six of them.”

One of Samson’s children, Jamiu, said his father’s death had made him and his siblings orphans, adding that their mother died a few years ago.

“My father used to deal in land, but he was not in conflict with anyone over land. He went to the White Sand area for a meeting and he was attacked with charms during a scuffle with land-grabbers from Amuwo-Kuje. It was his brother, who has been feeding us since the incident. I want justice for my father’s death and also want the government to help us,” the 17-year-old said.

The Secretary, Amuwo-Kuje family, Hassan Sabitu, told our correspondent in a telephone conversation that the land-grabbers were mobilised by a faction of the family.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said six suspects had been arrested, adding that the case had been transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Alagbon, for further investigation.

Elkana said, “The man, Segun, came to the station to report that land-grabbers attacked them in their house and in the process, killed his brother. We have arrested six persons in connection with the crime, but the case has been transferred to the FCID in Alagbon for further investigation.”