Landlords Storm Polaris Bank’s Premises Over Demolition Of 800 Houses

No fewer than 200 landlords in Glorious Villa Community, Awoyaya, Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State protested at the headquarters of Polaris Bank (formerly Skye Bank) over the demolition of over 800 houses.

The protesters, who were at the bank’s premises as early as 7a.m., carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Polaris Bank is evil,’ ‘Polaris Bank destroyed our houses and made us homeless,” among others.

Speaking during the protest, a visually-impaired comedian, Mr. Kelly Egbere, popularly known as Kelly Blind, appealed to the management of the bank and Lagos State Government to immediately look into the matter.

He said Skye Bank Trustees, a subsidiary of Skye Bank (now Polaris Bank), which allegedly demolished their houses without due process of the law, paraded a purported court order even after the court order was being challenged by their lawyers.

Narrating his ordeal, Kelly Blind said he bought his land in 2016, completed his building in January and moved into the property on February 4, noting that throughout nobody came to lay claim to the land.

His words: “It was not until June this year that about 100 policemen came to the community, posted some noticess on our buildings, saying the land we bought belong to Sky Bank Trustees. They gave us an address and a phone number, asking us to come and regularise with their lawyers.”

Another landlord, Mr. Biodun Ojo, lamented that all that he worked for during his sojourn abroad has gone down the drain, saying justice must be done in this case.

However, after hours of protest, the management of the bank eventually invited some of the protesters’ leaders for talks.

Kelly Blind, who briefed newsmen after the talks, said: “We had very fruitful talks with the bank management. They told us that the bank was not involved in the demolitions, saying it was Skye Trustees that carried out the demolition.

“They added that Skye Trustees are no longer a subsidiary of the bank. However, the bank said it will intervene because it is being linked with the demolition.”