A cold war is now brewing in Atan community, in Ogun State, over the location of a police station under construction.
A portion of land in the community had initially been earmarked for the purpose of building a befitting divisional police headquarters to serve the three communities sharing a common purpose in their collective quest to develop their areas.
The Point gathered that after series of meetings, notable individuals, through communal efforts, contributed money and other logistics to finally lay the foundation of the police station amid pomp and pageantry at Atan on September 5, 2015.
The Point learnt that, “The immediate expectation of residents was that with the police station in place, the communities would sooner than later be made safer, as the people had suffered untoward hardship arising from the menace of armed robbers and burglars, who often invade their homes to cart away valuables.”
A source informed The Point that the then Divisional Police Officer, who was in charge of former President Olusegun Obasanjo Farms’ axis, down to Iju and Atan, Chief Superintendent Baba Maiyaki, Citing of police station causes tension in Ogun community who is now an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Zamfara State, equally shared in the joy of the residents.
Maiyaki had said that relief would ultimately come the way of the people in the area. With the back up from the police, almost all the traditional chiefs in Atan and its environment soon assembled at the market place to see how they could, at the individual level, make contributions that would enhance a speedy construction, as they were all in joyous mood.
According to The Point’s findings, the man who spear-headed the laudable project was the Atan Community Development Committee Chairman, Mr. Olalekan Abatan, who had earlier convinced the residents on the benefits that could come their way, if the project was completed within a record time. But the joy of having a police headquarters at Atan was shortlived, as a man, simply identified as Akindele Timothy, allegedly encroached on the land, partitioning it and claiming that the property belonged to him, after all. This development has not only slowed down work on the construction of the police station, but has also stalled it, throwing the residents into a dilemma.
According to a source, “The man maliciously fenced the building construction site, claiming that the land belonged to him and all attempts to resolve the matter with him through invitations proved abortive. He even went ahead to construct a shopping centre, which he attached to a section of the building”.
Independent investigation by The Point revealed that even highly respected individuals, including traditional chiefs, who reportedly rose to the occasion, were rebuffed by Timothy, “who would not listen to anybody on that matter.”
It was gathered that after several failed attempts to placate Timothy on the subject matter, as he allegedly became evasive, the residents decided to approach the police to wade into the matter.
“The police served him invitation letter, which he equally ignored. And the purpose of the invitation was to settle the matter amicably”, declared Mr. Dare Ogundimu, one of the community leaders.
Apparently handicapped and left with no other option than to draw the attention of the Ogun State government to the contending issue, “series of letters were consequently written by the community leaders to the office of Governor Ibikunle Amosu, and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
The idea was for them to step into the matter.” One of the letters, copied the office of the Area Commander, Sango-Ota Command; the Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command; Office of the Bureau for Land and Survey and office of the Chairman, Atan-Iju Ilogbo Local Council Development Area, was made available to The Point.
The letter reads in part, “We are law abiding citizens and implore you to come to our aid by imploring Mr. Timothy to see reason why a police station of such magnitude is desirable in our communities.“
The Point was informed that on Friday last week, “Five government officials from Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, were detailed to secretly visit the community to assess the situation.”
The visitors, according to a source, “were expected to make known their findings to the government and even give a recommendation on the matter”. Although all attempts to get the reaction of the said Mr.
Timothy were not successful, a source, who described him as a cool-headed oil magnate, however, added, “He is a busy man, who may not have had the chance to attend the community meetings, when invited by the CDA.”
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told The Point that the matter was being looked into. ”We got our copy of the letter. The authorities are doing something about it,” Oyeyemi, an assistant superintendent of police, said.
The police spokesperson also enjoined the residents to always approach issues in a peaceful manner, adding, ”No meaningful development can take place where there is no peace.”
