Occupants of properties on the Ibadan Circular Project again staged a protest on Wednesday to the Oyo State Secretariat, Ibadan, over the purported plan of the state government to demolish properties that fall within 500 metres setback left and right of the road.
The protesting residents, in their numbers, particularly said they were baffled that contrary to the gazetted 75-metre setback under the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration, the statements and actions of officials of the Governor Seyi Makinde administration point to a new 500-metre setback for the Circular Road project.
They noted that their fears are being justified about the new setback range as more houses that fall within the 250-metre corridor of the project are being marked for demolition apart from those being demolished.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mr Akinfemiwa Abayomi noted that the residents of six local government areas in Ibadan: Ido, Ona-Ara, Egbeda, Oluyole, Akinyele, and Lagelu, which the project crisscrosses, live daily in fear, despair, and depression, apart from those who have died.
Abayomi noted that when some of the properties had their survey plan and certificate of occupancy done, they were only informed about the 75-metre acquisition around the project, only for them to start hearing about the 500-metre setback under the present government in its second term.
Noting that they had heard the setback move from 75 metres to 150 metres and now 500 metres, left and right, Abayomi said it had become expedient for the Oyo State Governor himself to personally tell them the metres of setback involved in the project to end the era of hearsay.
Abayomi said: “It came to our notice that the Oyo State governor wants to take 500 metres to the right and to the left as a setback, whereas the owner of the idea has a gazette stating 75 metres to the right and to the left.
“I am a resident and I have my survey plan registered at the Oyo State Secretariat, and I have a number. How should a government give me a registration number knowing that it has an acquisition plan? In the days of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, we knew where there was government acquisition, and we knew the number of metres that they would take.
“We now see this as a process of land grabbing, killing the masses. It was the masses that voted for him. So, we demand that he come publicly to address the issue personally. We have 11 local government areas in Oyo State and six of them are being affected by the project.”
Also speaking, Azeez Olaide, a resident of Ayede, Erunmu, and Egbeda Local government, said government taking 500 metres on the left and right was tantamount to killing people slowly, saying that some residents were ‘dead people walking.’
Azeez, who likened the 500-metre setback to 19 plots of land, said the sight of trucks and earthmoving equipment in the area constantly sent shivers down the spines of residents.
Noting that he has two houses within the 500-metre corridor, Azeez said the source of livelihood for his aged parents, who live there and rely on rent from the houses to live, was about to be truncated.
Azeez said: “Houses up to 250 metres setback have been marked for demolition up to Fasade. What the government is taking is 500 metres by the right and by the left. 500 metres by the right means 19 plots of land by the right and another 19 plots on the left. This spans across 6 local government areas.
“Would the government need 38 plots of land on both sides for 110 kilometres of road? People are dying. Three days ago, we went to rescue a woman who was on the verge of killing herself because her house had been marked. Most of us here are dead beings walking. I was sleeping yesterday; some tippers went in, probably to load sand, and I woke up because there is a constant fear that our houses are about to be demolished. So many people are hypertensive.
“I lost my job. I worked for 18 years for a multinational company. I gathered all my resources to build houses. The only thing I can point to in my life are the two houses I have that fall within 500 metres. That is where I am housing my parents; my dad is 78 years old, and my mom is 75 years old.
“The only source of livelihood we have is the house they are living in and the one they let out. What becomes of my parents if they demolish these houses? Many of them are retired. I know of someone at Ejioku who has five houses, and they all fall within the 500-metre setback. The man is presently at Faith Hospital in Lalupon, Ejioku, and is almost gone, and the governor is not talking to us. We have been to the Olubadan palace, spoken with Mogajis, and they have told us that the governor has not been responding to their requests at all.”
Addressing the protesters, the Executive Assistant to the Oyo Governor on Security, Mr. Sunday Odukoya, enjoined the Ibadan Circular Road Corridor residents to write an appeal letter to the governor on the agitation, which he would help them deliver quickly.
Odukoya said, “I will let the governor know that they came with their prayers in respect of the circular road project and that they are affected. Most of them are talking about the government taking 500 metres by the right and left and saying that it is choking them and too much for them.
“I made them understand that they needed the governor’s assistance on this matter. I told them that the Circular Road project had been marked to be done, and they are only begging the governor to reduce the setback to 75 metres to the right and left.
“I advised them that rather than coming in a large crowd, endangering their lives, they should select representatives from the six local governments affected, come to my office with their letter of appeal, and then I will deliver the letter to appropriate quarters, and I know that as soon as the governor sees it, he will do something about it.”
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