Many people in Surulere Community, Amikanle, which is close to the Command area of Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, are calculating their losses after suspected landgrabbers, also known as Omo Onile, tore down a number of houses in the region.
On Tuesday, January 27, 2026, the thugs broke into the community and started asking house owners for between N15 million and N25 million.
Saturday PUNCH says that several residents said that the thugs have destroyed the homes of people who couldn’t pay.
Our reporter’s checks show that the hoodlums had demolished at least 50 buildings, including homes, stores, and fences.
Residents informed our reporter that some 300 thugs invaded the neighborhood, saying they were following court orders from the Federal Housing Authority that allowed them to collect money for home repairs. They threatened to tear down any property whose owner didn’t pay.
One of the landlords’ children, who only gave his name as Oluwafewa, alleged that security officers were with the thugs who did the acts for two weeks, leaving the people living in the buildings in tears and sadness.
“The goons told the landlords to get a form that cost N100,000. Then they asked for an initial payment of N5 million, with N10 million to be paid later. They charged various amounts for each house.
He went on, “Some said they were asked to pay N25m, but they asked my parents for N15m.”
When asked if the thugs said who they worked for, Oluwafewa answered, “They don’t work for anyone.” They are Omo Onile, and they said they own the estate. The FHA urged them to stop since it didn’t give them permission to tear down the building.
Our correspondent saw police officers sitting in a corner with their cars parked on the street when they visited the community. The thugs were sitting in front of some of the structures that had been torn down.
A member of the community, who asked to remain anonymous, alleged that the thugs attacked a resident who was photographing them on the first day of their operation.
“They beat up someone who was filming them on the first day they came to our town. They almost broke the man’s phone. “They really dealt with us,” he remarked.
Another person who lives there informed our reporter that this had been going on for years. He also said that his uncle, who owned a house in the area 10 years ago, moved away because he couldn’t afford what the Omo Onile wanted.
“My uncle lost his property to them ten years ago. The problem has been around for years, and I don’t see any way to fix it. That was how they came about ten years ago and asked my uncle for N5m. “He didn’t have the money to give them, and he lost his house,” the resident claimed.
It was learned that the people held a peaceful demonstration in front of the structures that had been torn down last week, holding up signs asking Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other state politicians to step in.
One of the people who lived there and protested claimed, “They climbed on our buildings and took off the roofs.” We have gone to a lot of offices to file complaints, but no one has helped us. We don’t know what to do right now.
A Federal Housing Authority officer who has been in touch with the building owners indicated that what the thugs did was against the law.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, told our reporter that the thugs also chased away some staff members who had been sent to the region to keep an eye on the amount of demolition.
“They were pretending to be someone else. The FHA didn’t send the criminals. The people who lived there told us about the event. We have even written to the Lagos State Taskforce and the Commissioner of Police about this. He claimed, “We also sent our officials to the scene, but the thugs chased them away.”
When contacted on Thursday, however, Abimbola Adebisi, the Public Relations Officer for the Lagos State Police Command, said she was not aware of the case and promised to look into it and get back to our correspondent.
But Adebisi didn’t answer calls or respond to the messages that were delivered to her later.
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