According to SaharaReporters, the police officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on March 27, 2014, Thursday, invaded the Idasho community to force the residents out of their land which Africa’s richest man wants to acquire.
The policemen arrived at about noon (Nigerian time) and arrested any residents who protested their invasion.
Two eyewitnesses have narrated reported that the officers began shooting in the air and lobbing teargas in Panseke, one of the villages in the community.
One resident said the policemen were irked when some members of the community accosted them and served them a notice indicating that the land is a subject of an ongoing lawsuit. The invading officers defied the notice of court process. They arrested and took away residents, including women, who informed them that they were in court over the land.
It would be recalled that a few weeks ago Governor Fashola had told community leaders in the affected area that their land would be used as the site of a petrochemical plant proposed by Mr Dangote. The community leaders had protested the move, demanding to be duly resettled and fully compensated.
A resident claimed that the governor and the billionaire decided to call in officers from a dreaded anti-robbery unit because the local police officers, on learning that the case was in court, had declined to continue harassing the residents.
A community member accused the magnate of using his wealth to manipulate policemen from the SARS to “clear” the area of residents in order to move forward with his refinery project.
See the photos from the scene of tensions below:
Photo credit - Sahara Reporters
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