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Residents of Orisumbare community in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State have appealed to the Governor, Seyi Makinde, for his urgent intervention over illegal encroachment on their lands by officials of the state government.
This is just as the community said most of the lands affected are farmlands which served as their only means of livelihood, and have nowhere to go if their lands are taken from them by the government and houses on the land also demolished.
Speaking on behalf of the affected residents, Pa Adetunji Adekunle said the state government had earlier acquired some land in the area for trailer park during the administration of former Governor Lamidi Adesina, which the people believed was for the development of the area.
Adekunle lamented that the developer employed by the present state government is now trespassing beyond the boundary of the land earlier acquired by the government, adding that their farmlands have been destroyed by government tractors and some of the houses on the land also marked for demolition.
According to him, “We agreed to give out the acquired land because we believed it’s for the development of our area, and there was no rancour then, but to our surprise, we were later told during the tenure of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi that the government has taken over all the lands in the area. We think that engaging the government in legal battle might not bring fruitful result, that is why we are appealing to the government to release our land before it leads to chaos between us and the government officials.”
The community leader, however, called on the state government to as a matter of urgency wade into the situation before it degenerates and get out of hand.
Also, one of the affected residents, Mr. Leke Salau, said the people of the community cannot afford to let out the inheritance of their forefathers, stating that the government should not kill them but have mercy on them.
“We have nowhere else to go if our land is taken over and our houses demolished. Our forefathers were here for long, so we are not ready to give out our inheritance.”
“Over 300 acres of land was acquired for trailer park by the government of Lam Adesina, but now, the land trespassed on is over 400 acres with more than 40 farmers and 20 families affected while 60 houses were also marked for demolition,” he said.
