- Many landlords already contemplating suicide-Activist
Hundreds of residents of Imushe, Agelete, Ipatira, Igbo-Odo, Ikogbo, Ejila Awori in Agbara/ Igbesa Local Council Development Area in Ogun State took to the streets to protest the alleged acquisition of their land by a Chinese firm, Guandong.
The protesting residents carrying placards with various inscriptions, claimed that the land on which they had laboured to erect structures over the years, belonged to them.
Explaining the reasons behind their action, the Chairman, Ejila Awori Community Development Association, Mr. Rapeal Olubodun who led the peaceful protesters to the secretariat of the Agbara/ Igbesa Local Council Development Area in Igbesa, Ogun State, said that the residents were constrained to take steps to stop the take-over of their property by the Chinese company.
Olubodun alleged that the company first brought some people to begin work on the land about three weeks ago without giving the residents any prior notice.
He said, “We just saw some people working on our land, barbed wire everywhere. We asked questions but nobody answered us after three days. Instead, they prevented us from having access to our houses and our lands.”
“We laboured to build our houses here; nobody can just come one morning and barricade everywhere with barbed wire. We have about 400 hundred hacters of land here.”
One of the affected landlords, who simply identified himself as Olorunfemi, told our correspondent, “I bought this piece of land in 2009 in Imushe and there wasn’t any sign that the land was either government acquisition or belonged to the any private firm. It was filled with palm trees. We had to uproot the tress before this area became what it is today.”
A human rights activist, Bayo Ogunleye, said it was only the fenced portion of the land that was identified as belonging to the Chinese firm.
Ogunleye added that the other portion not fenced were later sold to different individuals, who had now become landlords in the area.
He appealed to the Chairman of Agbara/Igbesa LCDA, Mr. Ebenezer Oniyide, to look into the plight of the affected landlords, many of who are pensioners.
Ogunleye said that this had become imperative to avoid sudden death among the residents, which might occur due to the shock they could experience if the land was taken over and their property demolished.
He warned that many of the affected landlords in the area might resort to committing suicide, if nothing was urgently done to halt the impending loss of their property on the land.
Addressing the protesters, the Chairman of Agbara/Igbesa LCDA, Mr. Ebenezer Oniyide, commended them for the peaceful manner in which the rally was carried out.
Oniyide advised the residents to write and submit a petition on the matter within a week, adding that their grievances would be forwarded to the governor.
Our correspondent, however, learnt that the said land had been set aside by the Ogun State Government for the siting of a free trade zone.
