The State Security Services has grilled one of the conveners of Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum, Jamiu Olayinka, over a suit asking the Lagos State Government to account for the sum of $100 million paid by businessman, Aliko Dangote, for the acquisition of the land used for his refinery.
Mr Dangote in July claimed that his company paid the state government led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu $100 million to acquire the 7,000 hectares where the refinery is sited.
Mr Olayinka, who was summoned for questioning on Thursday, was invited through his lawyers by the SSS.
His invitation by secret police was disclosed in a statement released by the Media Officer of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation in Lagos.
The statement read, “Although he was not detained, his people had insisted that he should give them all the details of what transpired as they had told him before he left for their office that they suspected the invitation was due to the Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum’s involvement in the suit against Lagos State regarding the Dangote Refinery’s $100 million paid to the state government over the natives’ land taken without compensation and claimed to have been given free for the Dangote’s refinery building some nine years ago. As predicted by the people, Comrade Jamiu Olayinka confirmed their thought was right. He said, ‘I was asked about the case and I told them we are not going back. I told the (DSS) man that I have every right to sue Lagos State Government for the issues. ‘And he asked to know what we can use to back up our association, and I showed him our registered certificate with CAC. He became perplexed when he saw the registered certification.’’
However, Mr Olayinka explained that the plan by the Sanwo-Olu government was to pressure the group to back out from joining a case against the state government, adding that he vowed never to be intimidated by the threats.
Recall that natives under the auspices of Ibeju-Lekki People’s Forum and De Renaissance Patriots Foundation instituted a suit against the state government seeking details of the $100m paid by Mr Dangote for the land.
In the suit before a Federal High Court in Lagos, the applicants are seeking the court to compel the state government to provide details of the fund.
Joined as respondents in the suit are the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; the Lagos State Attorney-General, Lagos State Accountant-General and the state’s Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau.
Meanwhile, the legal practitioner representing the natives, Yakubu Eleto, has condemned the harassment and intimidation against the people by the state government.
Mr Eleto said instead of the government providing answers to the questions being asked by the groups speaking on behalf of the natives, the government was using SSS to intimidate them.
“Because the Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum is a group of the Lagos State indigenes who are directly affected by the development, their leaders and members decided to join in the case and, instead for Governor Sanwo-Olu to now be humble enough by committing to the rule of law and await his day in court, he already resorted to using the DSS to pressurise and intimidate the natives for them to be cut off from involving themselves in the case and that will be unacceptable,” he said.
