Osogbo traders protest over unpaid compensations for demolished shops

Owners of over 600 shops demolished by Osun State Government for road expansion, yesterday, protested against non-payment of compensations totalling over a billion naira.

The immediate past administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola had in 2013 demolished the shops and a filling station at both sides of MDS Road, stretching Old Garage, MDS, Olaiya Junction to Fakunle Areas of Osogbo, capital of the state for dualisation of the road.

Nine years after the demolition exercise, the affected shop owners have cried out to the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, to compensate them and save them from further hardships.

The claimants, under the umbrella of MDS Shop Owners Association, said Oyetola had promised to offset their compensations in batches when they paid him a courtesy visit in his office in 2019, but expressed displeasure that the governor was yet to fulfill his promise.

The protesters, including aged men and women, displayed placards with several inscriptions, such as “We Know Governor Oyetola to be a promise keeper, he should pay us our compensation,” “Mr. Governor, please, save our souls, we are battling hardships,” among others.

Mrs. Adefunke Afolabi, who spoke on behalf of the group, alleged that Oyetola had paid some traders whose shops were demolished in other areas of Osogbo, and urged him to be fair to them and pay them too.

“We, the members of MDS Shop Owners Association, wish to express our displeasure over the unfair treatment meted out on our members on the issue of compensation for the demolished structures. Over a hundred building having more than 600 shops, including one filling station were demolished and our compensation is over one billion naira.

“The governor had promised to pay us when the government has money when we all met with him. But it was painful to discover that the governor had paid some of us at Onisekere area and refused to pay us at MDS. We are acting according to the promise he made to us because he said he was going to pay in batches, not knowing some have collected. It’s unfair. More than mine years now. Some of us have died. Some have been killed silently due to suffering. It’s our right and we deserve it.”