Igbesa: Indigent Families Seeks Ogun Governor’s Intervention Over Chinese Forceful Take-Over Of 158 Hectres Of Land
Abdul Tijani, Lagos
The protesters in their large numbers congregated and marched peacefully along Captain David Road in Igbesa with placards expressing their grievances against the Chinese companies whom they alleged has systematically being encroaching on their land, using armed Mobile Policemen, Nigeria Army, DSS, Armed thugs and all sorts of intimidations to forcefully takeover lands from them beyond what was officially allotted them in 2007.
In a peaceful procession, singing songs of solidarity, they marched along with Journalists to the land that they claimed that the Chinese Companies have taken forcefully, pointing to places where houses, cottage industries, livestock farms, farmlands, schools, religious places and other structures use to be, but have been mauled down by Caterpillars working for the Company.
The Journalists found a bulldozer on the land still working to apparently level up debris of the various structures that had been pulled down in the days before. Also found on the land were residual armed policemen on guard, possibly to ward off any intruder, especially members of the agitating families.
Some of the protesters interviewed were people who innocently bought portions of the land to either build THEIR residence, businesses, farms or used for other ventures but had lost it to the evading Guadong Free Trade Zone Chinese Companies.
Mrs Ngozi Paul, a School Proprietor while speaking to the Press was almost in tears, narrating how all their savings was expended on the School project that was attached with Hostels for the Student, but now destroyed, saying; “before we bought this land, we went to the Ogun State Bureau of Land Survey, where we were told the land is not under any form of acquisition and their records on the land indicates so.”
Alhaji Mukaila Alao, a Building Block Maker, said, “This is not my first place of buying land for my block making business, I do my due diligence in getting all the necessary information about a land before buying, getting all the necessary official documents then I buy. I did the same before buying this land here in Igbesa, which is free from any form of encumbrance according to government records and I paid for it.
“It is therefore surprising that the Chinese in a wanton desire to expand their business space are forcefully taking over the land of others. This is very crude, I have such an International Organisation acting in such a manner, not minding the feelings of the poor who are trying to eke out a living for themselves.” Alao said.
Pastor Durodola Ayokanmi, a Gospel Minister whose family home was also affected, decried the action of the Chinese Companies, saying they have no fear for God. He lamented particularly over those who lost their lives in the course of the struggle, explaining, “we have gone back and forth to Abeokuta at the Land Survey Bureau, approached the Courts, made appeals, suffered several attacks and intimidated to relinquish the lands but we stood our grounds until now when they came with armed wielding Police and the Military to begin the demolishment you are seeing taking place”
Honorable Ajose Solomon, the Chairman of the Association who spoke on behalf of the group during the protest said, “In 2007, the delegation of former Governor of Ogun State Gbenga Daniel led by the then deputy Governor, Alihaja Salimot Badiru visited Igbesa Community at Oba's Palace Igbesa to appeal to the Community to give part of our land for Ogun State government to sight the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone.
“We Initially resisted, but after a lot of consultation and appeal that lasted for months, we agreed to let go of part of our land, we took the government surveyor to a particular area that was marked out, the survey was carried out and it resulted in 250 hectares.
The same delegations visited the neighbouring villages known as Ejila-Awori and they agreed to give out 398.489 Hectares, crops enumeration was carried out by the government and payment was made.
“After it all, the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone, Chinese Company took possession by digging trench to demarcate the boundary, some areas they used wire fencing, calling the one in Ejila-Awori as Phase 1, comprising; 398.489 Hectares, and named the one in Igbesa, Phase 2.
“The building of Company started at the Phase 1 with peaceful co-existence, but was later discontinued in Ejila-Awori as a result of the road that was bad and started full operations in Igbesa.Within these periods, there were of no issues until 2017 when these Chinese crossed over to our remaining land and started encroaching upon our farm land destroying both cash and food crops, closing our roads, pasting Demolition Order on our Structures, despite the 398.489 Hectares of their land lying fallow at Ejila-Awori.” Honourable Ajose narrated
Mr. Kehinde Owolabi added by saying; “We visited the Chinese on the encroachment, where we were told they have C.of O for 2,000 Hectares, claiming that OPIC ( Ogun State Investment Corporation) transferred the acquired land to them and we asked the Chinese to show us the:.Gazette of the purported acquisition,.The Survey which OPIC used in transferring ownership of the said land to the Chinese, but none was shown.
“We therefore resisted their move to acquire more land, the Chinese mobilised Nigeria Police to forcefully take over our farm lands, since then till now. They wrote several fraudulent petitions to Police headquarters Abuja, Commissioner of Police, Ogun State, DSS Abeokuta, task force, Abeokuta, including making Police arrests, accusing us of malicious damages, attempted kidnapping, possession of firearms and charged to Court.
Every time that we appeared to answer to these charges, you will not find the Chinese themselves, but their Nigerian accomplice who are indigenes of Igbesa, neither can they provide any Government functionaries to defend the Chinese that they were allocated 2000 hectares of land as they claimed.” Owolabi said.
The crew of Journalists made frantic efforts to speak with officials of the Guadong Free Trade Zone, but there was no one to address the Media, except a person who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, saying, "OPIC which is Ogun State Property Investment Company, acquired 8000 hectares from the community and gave out 2000 hectares to Guadong under the Free Trade Zone arrangement, which is part of the land that the Chinese are trying to develop before the Families started their troubles."
He promised to get back to the Media on Monday but as at the time of going to Press, nothing was heard from him.
When the families were confronted with his assertions, they asked us to get the C of O to the 2000 hectares and we should take it to the Lands Survey Bureau to verify if it is gazetted and you will be surprised, it is not, they said.
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