Residents of the Ajegunle/Araromi community in Makun, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State on Thursday protested demolition of their houses by the officials of the state government, despite a court injunction.
The protest took place at the scene of the demolition.
The residents said they were surprised to wake up to see a detachment of armed policemen and officials of the state Bureau of Lands and Survey who came with bulldozers and started pulling down their structures.
They alleged that the government demolished their houses after selling their land to a Chinese company for industrial purposes without paying them compensation.
The protesters were armed with placards with inscriptions such as “Ajegunle, Araromi community must exist, please save our soul,” “Dapo Abiodun, save us, respect court injunction” and “We have nowhere to go” among others.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the community’s legal adviser, Oduwole Olusoga, lamented that the government failed to obey a court injunction restraining it from demolishing the houses.
Olusoga said, “We have a court injunction restraining the state government from doing this.
“There is a subsisting court injunction, we served them, we did everything and there were so many interventions, but despite all, the government went ahead to demolish our houses.
“The Chinese man the government sold our land to has been boasting around, he said he sponsored Dapo Abiodun’s second term election, that there is nothing we have and that they will pull this place down.”
When contacted, the Director-General of the Bureau of Lands and Survey, Segun Fowora, said the land in question belonged to the government.
“Unknown individuals, in flagrant violation of extant laws, started building on government land without any valid documents or title from the state and without building permits from appropriate government agency.
“This is an attempt to deprive investors the right to peaceful and quiet enjoyment of land,” he said.
