{INTERVIEW} Why we went to court on Dangote’s $100m paid to Lagos govt over natives’ land – Legal Counsel

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

Because land is as important to man as it is to trees, according to then Governor of Delta State, to take land used by Lagos State indigenes for their living and survival, under the pretext of being given out for free to attract development, without compensation to the now impoverished Ibeju-Lekki people of Lagos State is one inhumane treatment that, unaddressed, has continued to generate heat in the state. It got worse when, recently, the world was told from the horse’s mouth that the 7,000-acre land was not given for free but that $100 million was paid for it. Human rights lawyer and lead counsel to plaintiffs in a Freedom of Information case filed against the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Government and two others, Barrister Yakubu Eleto Esq, has provided details as to why his team of lawyers went to court over the matter.  Excerpts:

Immediately they brought in Dangote Refinery to that place, a lot of children had to drop out from school, because of the fact that their parents could no longer pay their school fees. And up till today, government did not even introduce any scholarship for them. Out of the $100 million collected, there is no scholarship for the people from that area, there is no palliative to mitigate the effects, there is no government presence, in fact that is even the worse, there is no government institution in that area. In fact there is no hospital, they have poor roads, they have poor water, there is no infrastructure, there is nothing in that area. The place is just like a bush and a village, the worst part of it is that there is no power supply.

You were in court on Friday September 6, 2024.
Yes, yes, yes.

What took you there?
We went to file a suit to get Freedom of Information, because we wrote to Lagos State Government requesting for details of the $100 million paid to them by Dangote. We have written them since 29th of July, 2024 and according to the Freedom of Information Act, they have seven days to reply to us on whether to confirm or deny the fact that Dangote paid $100 million.

Now, the letter was written, seven days after, there was no response and according to the Act, we have rights to ask the court to seek for an Order of Mandamus to compel the Lagos State Government being a public institution to release information as to the receipt of the $100 million and how it was expended.

So, that was why we went to court to seek for an Order of Mandamus mandating the Lagos State Government.

In the suit we joined the Governor of Lagos State, the Attorney General of Lagos State, the Accountant General, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Lands and we also joined Lagos State Government as the government itself.

Who are your clients in this suit?
We are standing in for De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and the Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum.

Aside the information you are demanding, what exactly did you see to be the push for making the demand?
Why we are demanding this information is that, the people of Ibeju-Lekki have been badly affected by siting Dangote Refinery on their soil. It is supposed to be a blessing but I think it’s becoming a curse because, number one, about 7,000 acres of land were taken away from Ibeju-Lekki people of about 70 communities affected by that refinery.

The thing is that the portion of land where Dangote is occupying is a place that these indigenous residents of Ibeju-Lekki used as their farmland. It had been taken away from them. No compensation. No community in Ibeju-Lekki is compensation with One Naira and $100 million was taken on it and away from them.

Again, the Atlantic Ocean that they normally used for fishing has also been affected by continuous dredging by Dangote, which means that by law and according to international standard, communities like that are supposed to be entitled to compensation, adequate compensation because their entire livelihood, their entire history, their entire customs have been destroyed by Dangote.

Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), as sitting Governor in 2015, using a public address said that they brought Dangote to Ibeju-Lekki in good faith to assist governance, to assist the Lagos State economy, that they gave him the land for free and that he didn’t pay anything for it.

That was what they used to cajole the Ibeju-Lekki people that time, only for Dangote to cry out almost nine years to say that the land was not given to him for free as claimed by Fashola, that it was sold to him. That is now the reason for our agitation that, now, the money government collected, what did they use the money for, which account was the money sent to, how was it expended? We are curious to know such that our people can know at this time.

Nine years down the line, is it not late to reopen this matte this time?
It is not late to ask for damages. It is not late to ask for compensation so that the people of Ibeju-Lekki can use the result of that suit to ask compensation that they deserve from the taking over of their land for the purpose of the Dangote Refinery.

But can we be right to say that the people’s agitation now is not as if they are against the siting of refinery on their land?
We welcome the siting of refinery and we would continue to welcome the siting of the refinery. It is a very good project and it is a very laudable project that we appreciate the initiative of siting a refinery on our soil.

But the only thing we are asking is that, okay, the siting should come with compensation, the siting should be a blessing but it’s becoming a course already. There is no standard school in that area, children can no longer go to school, they have to travel miles and kilometres before they go to school.

Immediately they brought in Dangote Refinery to that place, a lot of children had to drop out from school, because of the fact that their parents could no longer pay their school fees. And up till today, government did not even introduce any scholarship for them. Out of the $100 million collected, there is no scholarship for the people from that area, there is no palliative to mitigate the effects, there is no government presence, in fact that is even the worse, there is no government institution in that area. In fact there is no hospital, they have poor roads, they have poor water, there is no infrastructure, there is nothing in that area. The place is just like a bush and a village, the worst part of it is that there is no power supply.

Out of the fact that they don’t have money, they pay a lot to give themselves energy and it is now sounded to their ears to hear that about $100 million was collected in exchange for their land and some individuals sit on that money. We want to know where that money is.

Who is the judge now that has been assigned this case?
It has not been assigned to a judge because it was filed today, Friday September 6, 2024 and in Federal High Court they assign cases on Tuesdays and Thursdays. By coming Tuesday after vacation, it is going to be assigned to a judge.

Just for clarification sake, hope there is not going to be issue of jurisdiction in Federal High Court on a case of Lagos State?
This is a Freedom of Information matter. There is no issue of jurisdiction.