Protest as govt demolishes houses in Ogun

Residents of Libegun Aregbe village in Obafemi Owode Local Government area have protested the demolition of their landed properties by off...

Residents of Libegun Aregbe village in Obafemi Owode Local Government area have protested the demolition of their landed properties by officials of the Ogun State Government.

The villagers said government was demolishing the houses, shrines, schools and others without their prior knowledge.

The villagers are claiming that their 450-year-old village was being demolished without payment of compensation.

The Baale of the Libegun, Chief John Akinsola, accused the Ogun State Government of demolishing people’s houses and shrines to pave way for a housing estate, saying it was an attempt to send them into extinction.

Akinsola, addressing newsmen on Monday, said he and other members of the community were not carried along by the state government in the construction of the estate.

“Nobody had any meeting with us. We just started hearing noise from the caterpillar demolishing our properties and our shrines”, the Baale lamented.

The Baale pleaded with Governor Dapo Abiodun to come to their aid, stressing that “We are not angry about any estate in our community, but our school, polling booth and other amenities in the community should be spared.”

But, the Special Adviser to Governor Abiodun on Public Communications, Remmy Hazzan, has faulted the claims of the villagers.

According to Hassan, the state government had acquired the proposed site for the estate a long time ago, adding that the villagers were aware of same.

While saying he was aware of the estate development in Libegun by the Ogun State Ministry of Housing, Hazzan maintained that residents’ grouse about the estate development in Libegun was incorrect.

He said the only building on the site as of the time of acquisition was a church, which he claimed was demolished by the last administration.

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