…Seek Gov. Abiodun’s intervention

Residents of Fere and Oniporogun communities in Obafemi Owode Local Council, have embarked on a peaceful protest to express their grievances over the alleged allocation of the ancestral land to Chinese investors.

The residents, who appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene in the allege land allocation, warned that the development could leave hundreds of the residents homeless.

They wondered why village heads and chiefs were not consulted before security personnel and bulldozers were deployed to clear some portions of the land on which houses were already built

The Baale of Fere, Chief Okesola Alani, said the communities were not against industrial development but maintained that residents’ homes and properties must not be destroyed or displaced to pave the way for the proposed investment.

Alani, who expressed sorrow over the destruction of properties on the land, said that the residents pooled their resources to provide essential amenities, including electricity on the demolished houses, while others spent their life savings in purchasing some portions of the land.

“We are not fighting government for development. We want the community to be developed; we want industries. But the industry we are bringing should not be at the expense of the community. We don’t have any place to go,”

“Before any government can allocate, they have to contact the leader of the village, the Baale. None of us was contacted. They just came with police, caterpillars and other equipment and started bulldozing our land,” the Baale said.

He appealed to Abiodun to intervene, saying the residents were willing to coexist with investors if the government could identify land for industrial development without displacing existing communities.

Alani added that the community had been engaging the government since 2017 over the need to extend the village, but alleged that the issue remained unresolved.

“We are begging Governor Dapo Abiodun. I know he is an achiever and he is making progress, but please, Dapo and your government, remember us. We are human beings,” he added

The Baale called on the Ogun State Government to organise a meeting involving traditional rulers, landlords, the Community Development Association (CDA) and other relevant stakeholders to find an amicable resolution to the dispute.

He stressed that while industrial development was desirable, it must be pursued in a manner that safeguards the homes, properties and interests of existing residents.

Also, the Acting Chairman of the Community Development Association of Oniporogun and Fere communities, Salau Hamid, said residents were distressed over the alleged land allocation, particularly because many had spent years saving to build their homes.

“It is saddening that we are trying, even though the economy is bad, to make sure that we have our buildings, and we found out that the Chinese are taking over. We don’t know how it came to play,” Hamid said.

He claimed that more than 300 residents had completed houses or were building on the disputed land, urging the government to consider their plight before taking further action.

“We want development, yes, but this is not the kind of development we are looking at. We want to exist and co-exist with the Chinese, but they can always get properties elsewhere,” he noted.