Residents of Mesiogo Estate in the Akobo
area of Ibadan, Oyo State, say they are
uncertain of their future in the
area after their houses were marked for demolition by soldiers from the
2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment.
According to the landlords, the
soldiers informed them that the land on which the estate was located
belonged to the military barracks.
The residents said they were told to pay fine failing which the houses would be demolished.
Spokesman for the community, Amos Ishola, said the estate was one of the
private estates built by a former Oyo State Governor, late Kolapo
Ishola, and that there were documents that showed that the community did
not encroach on military land.
He said, "The late Chief Ishola
was a surveyor and he bought many plots of land on which he built
residential estates. Mesiogo Estate is one of them. Many of his family
members were given parcels of land to build their houses on the estate.
"The soldiers at the Adekunle
Fajuyi Cantonment said some people encroached on military land and that
the communities had been identified since 2010. They said the
communities were aware and they had been talking to the communities
through the late Chief Ishola before his death. He reportedly asked his
son, Kunle Ishola, to look into the matter.
"We learned that the Ministry
of Defence set up a committee to look into the matter and re-establish
the military boundary. The committee was asked to fence the intruders
out, while they would pay penalties of various sums."
Ishola said he was surprised
that Mesiogo community, which was not among the eight communities
earlier identified, was included in the intruders' list.
Our correspondent, who visited the community, observed that all the 49 houses in the community had been marked for demolition.
It was also gathered that the army authorities refused to grant the community audience on the issue.
"They have marked our houses and said unless we pay, the houses would be demolished.
"They have their master plan
while we have ours too. In the two plans, there is clear demarcation
between the two boundaries. They did not engage us in a dialogue. All
they have been doing is to call us on the telephone and threaten us to
either pay or our houses would be demolished.
"We have contacted our lawyer and he has written letters to the Oyo State Ministry of Land to re-establish our boundaries.
"They (soldiers) have brought a caterpillar with which they intend to demolish the houses unless we pay," Ishola said.
When contacted, Deputy
Director, Nigerian Army Public Relations Department, who is also the
spokesman for the cantonment, Col Ezinma Idima, stated that the estate
was built on military land.
"The truth is that that
community is one of the communities that encroached on military land.
Over the years, we have been making efforts to reclaim it. A ministerial
committee was put in place in 2010, which recommended that the land
should be left for the community, but the residents have to pay for it.
The money will be used to demarcate the army barracks from the
communities. They know that they encroached on the army land, including
Mesiogo Estate," said Idima.
The state Commissioner for
Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ajiboye Omodewu, said the
community had not written to the ministry over their boundary.
However, Ishola said the ministry had sent its officers to the area after a letter was written to it.
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