Residents in Ilu Erin Sarri community in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun state have cried out to Governor Dapo Abiodun to save them from the invasion of their community by land grabbers.
The residents also alleged that land grabbers have sacked them from their community, disrupted their means of livelihood and turned them homeless.
The traditional head of the community, High Chief Aremu Tijani, at a press conference on Friday said Ilu Erin Sarri which has been in existence for over 300 years was a peaceful agrarian community until it was torn apart by the recent development.
He said, “The earliest settlers in Sarri were farmers and hunters and that is what we are known for till the present day.
This is the fourth time land grabbers are attempting to take over our community. They would come with armed thugs, destroy business activities and injure residents. The migrants who are claiming the ownership of our land. This is becoming unbearable and it has gotten to its peak and that is why we are crying out for help.”
The Baagbimo of Sarri land, Chief Tijani Azeez said inhabitants in the community have been under the siege of land grabbers since 2005.
He appealed to the State Governor, Mr Dapo Abiodun and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun to intervene and save the village and its inhabitants from going into extinction.
He said, “We have been contending with the issues of land grabbing and this has been threatening our existence as a once peaceful community.
When they invaded our community in 2005 and 2006, those among the residents that could escape did so by the whisker but for those that were caught, it was a terrible experience.
They attacked buildings, harmed and inflicted machete cuts on residents. When I heard about the attack, I rushed down to the head of the family of the invaders. I narrated everything to him and he denied knowing about the attack in the community.
He thereafter sent someone with me to make a formal complaint at the station. They brought the victim to Sango police station, and I took him to the General Hospital for treatment.
After a series of interrogations, the police arrested and locked them up in the cell. After so much intervention, they called for truce and we were living peacefully thereafter.
But in March this year, a group of land grabbers led by Elijah Adeogun invaded the community with arms thugs. Everybody scampered to safety. They destroyed property and injured many residents. They sacked us from our community. We have been sent packing from our community since March till this present moment.
The most unfortunate part of this is that they are aided by the police. They are using the police to threaten us. At different times, we were invited five times by the police both here in Ogun state and in Abuja between March and June.
We are appealing to Nigerians to save us from the problems of land grabbers. Our community has been under the siege of land grabbers since March 2023. We are crying for respite.”
Narrating his ordeals, a resident in the community, Mr Rafiu Salako said, “They brought thugs to our community and pasted eviction notice all over the community. We didn’t institute any court case with anyone nor did we have any legal battle with anyone before the court. We were threatened and arrested by the police for no just cause.
They invaded our community with thugs. It was after this invasion that we went to Sango police but they were helpless. The police officers were overpowered by their colleagues from the Area Command who supervised the invasion.
We have been evicted from the village since the beginning of Muslim Ramadan fast. We are appealing to the Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun to wade into the matter because we have been turned homeless.”
Another victim of the attack, Ahmed Adeosun narrated how he fled his home and lost his means of livelihood.
He said, “On March 23, I was at my shop when some thugs drove into the village with charms and weapons. They were led by officers from the Area Command, Sango, Ogun state.
They attacked and inflicted injuries on many of us. I was arrested and taken before the leader of the police team. I started crying and explaining my plight to him. How can some group of people just wake up and decided to invade a village?
They told us to leave the community claiming that we are strangers and visitors on our land. Many of us were arrested and driven round the village in the company of the police from the Area Command.
They have been threatening our lives to the point that many of us have fled the village. We left our means of livelihood to avoid being killed by the thugs.”
