Residents accuse Lagos agency officials of assaulting estate guards

Residents of Omole Estate Phase II have accused officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency of beating up the estate’s security guards.

Our correspondent gathered from the residents that the estate security guards denied the LASBCA officials access to the estate over their failure to properly identify themselves on Monday.

The residents said the guards resisted and were subsequently attacked by the officials.

Speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday, the Chief Security Officer of the estate, Prince Adewunmi Stephen, explained that the LASBAC officials were not allowed inside because they came with a private car and did not provide their identity cards to authenticate their claims.

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He noted that not coming with a branded vehicle or plate number of the Lagos State Government was against the estate’s rule for government officials.

Adewunmi added that three of his men were injured by the officials during the incident.

He said, “Some persons came and claimed they are Lagos State workers. Normally, once we see Lagos State branded vehicles or plate numbers, we give them access. But in their case, they did not come with any of this. They did not show us their ID cards and claimed they must have access to the estate. I spoke with them on phone and told them there is a rule here. But I told them to leave and that we do not want problems in the estate. They parked and made calls. After 30 minutes, they came with policemen. They assaulted three of my men.”

Also, the Chairman, Security Advisory Group of the estate, Abiodun Oke, accused the LASBAC officials of going making away with a Walkie-talkie, four mobile phones belonging to the security operatives, adding that several uniforms meant for the estate security were torn.

He said, “This is uncalled for. The situation caused panic, people felt it was an armed robber that attacked the estate. At the end of the day when they left, we took stock and discovered that our Walkie-talkie and four mobile phones had been taken away and several uniforms meant for our security were torn.”

The spokesperson for LASBCA, Adetayo Asagba, said she had yet to be briefed on the incident.

She promised to get back to our correspondent after she had been informed.