…Foreigner boasted that nothing’ll happen, says lawyer
…Govt was served, yet acted against court order
By Abiodun Taiwo
Pandemonium swept through Ajegunle/Araromi community, Makun, Sagamu Local Government Area (LGA) of Ogun State yesterday as scores of irate residents kicked against the demolition of their homes and confiscation of their lands allegedly for onward handing over to a non-Nigerian.
Riled, the community’s legal adviser, Oduwole Odusoga, on behalf of the residents, accused State Governor Dapo Abiodun of engineering the sale of the lands to a Chinese man who allegedly boasted that he helped sponsor his (Governor’s) re-election in the March 2023 poll.
To Odusoga, it was like unjust reward for the foreigner’s alleged financial assistance.
His words: “The Chinese man the government sold our land to has been boasting around; he said he sponsored Dapo Abiodun’s second term election, that there is nothing we have, that they will pull this place down.
“The Chinese man has his own factory, but he is interested in taking over everything. The Governor should please safe our soul.”
It was not the first time that Gov. Abiodun had courted controversy, stirring the hornet’s nest. he was accused by the then Chairman of Ijebu East LGA, Wale Adedayo, of unilaterally seizing LG allocations running into several billions of Naira and starving the grassroots government tier of funds.
Though he denied it, the State Government petitioned the law enforcement agencies, leading to the arrest, detention, suspension and subsequent impeachment of Adedayo. The latter’s case against the Governor is still in court.
Tension gripped Ajegunle/Araromi community after residents woke up to the rumbling sound of bulldozers as officials of the State Bureau of Lands and Survey, accompanied by policemen who were armed to the teeth, stormed the community pulling down houses and other structures.
Crying and lamentation immediately filled the air.
As alarm bells rang through the besieged community, and faced with the stark prospect of homelessness, they massed and marched with placards in protest.
The angry residents who were wailing and chanting anti-government songs, lamented that the government did not give them any prior notice before demolishing their houses.
They alleged that the government demolished their houses after selling their land to the Chinese man and his company for industrial purposes without paying them compensation.
Some of the placards had inscriptions such as: ‘Ajegunle/Araromi community must exist’, ‘Please Save our Soul’, ‘Dapo Abiodun, save us’, ‘Respect court injunction’ and ‘We have nowhere to go’, among others.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Olusoga lamented that the government failed to obey a court injunction restraining it from demolishing their houses.
Olusoga said, “We have a court injunction refraining the state government from doing this dastard act that they have taken today.
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“There is a subsisting court injunction; we served them, we did everything and there were so many interventions, but despite all, the government went ahead to demolish our houses.
“Even with a court injunction, they took this step. We are still in court. Multimillion investments are being destroyed’ Look at what they have done to our property.
“They did not allow us access into our property. They are pulling everything down; our belongings are still inside.
“We want our land; we don’t want compensation. Even when they have demolished our structures, we want our land; let them give us back our land.
“We have not been compensated. There was no notification; the government did not notify us before destroying our structures.
“We have written several letters to the Governor’s Office, to the Bureau of Lands and serving them the court injunction restraining them from taking any action on the land.”
Contacted for reaction, Director General (DG) of the State Bureau of Lands and Survey, Segun Fowora refused to comment fully, merely saying “the government will address the press at appropriate time.”
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