damosky Invasion by monkeys from natural habitat is
forcing many residents of Soluyi/Sosanya
Community in Gbagada, Lagos State, to flee.
Some of the residents told the News men in
Lagos on Monday that they could no longer
withstand the situation.
They called on the state government to save the
community from the trouble, saying that the
animals forced their ways into their rooms,
destroying window and door nets, food stuffs and
other items.
The Chairman of the community’s Landlord
Association, Mr Adigun Olaleye, said that it had
become difficult for the community to curtail the
monkeys and their destructive attitude.
He said that the invasion might have resulted
from the nearness of the community to a swamp
forest that separated the community from Ifako
area.
According to him, the monkeys come into
residences at any time including early morning
and gain entrance into rooms even if the houses
are locked.
Olalaye told the News men that the community
had written a letter to the Lagos State Ministry of
Agriculture as regards the situation but had yet to
get a relief.
“They said we would have to pay for them to
come and pack the monkeys,” he said. He said
that the invasion had been on for years but
recently became unbearable.
Olaleye appealed to the state government to
urgently intervene.
Narrating her ordeal, a journalist who lives in the
community, Mrs Funmilola Gboteku, told the
News men that the monkeys had forced her
family to flee.
“Many times, these monkeys come to the
neighbourhood to destroy our property. Once they
see food items inside a house, they direct all their
energies at gaining entrance forcefully.
“The monkeys are in the habit of tearing the
protective nets on windows to gain entrance and
eat whatever they find in the house.“I have had to
replace the protective nets several times; I am
tired of doing it.
“I have been locking my windows but locking of
windows has disadvantages; there is no cross
ventilation in the house, and as a result, we suffer
heat,’’ she told the News men.
Another landlord, Mr Oluwatosin Aregbesola, told
the News men that his tenants were no longer
feeling safe in the house because of the monkeys.
“The monkeys enter kitchens to eat our soups
and any food stuff on the shelf.
“The day I tried to catch one of them, the monkey
attacked me by using its long nails to punch a
hole on my neck and scratch my face,” he said.
Aregbesola appealed to the state government to
save the community from the menace.
http://thenationonlineng.net/residents-invade-
lagos-community/