Our Reporter
The affected property owners, drawn from Ido, Akinyele, Egbeda, Lagelu, Oluyole, and Ona-Ara Local Government Areas, converged on Ologuneru on Saturday, where they unanimously condemned the policy, describing it as excessive, unjust, and capable of triggering a humanitarian crisis.
Operating under the Ibadan Circular Road and Corridor Stakeholders Forum, the landlords argued that the 1,000-metre development corridor being proposed for the 110-kilometre circular road project failed to meet due process requirements and does not serve public interest as claimed by the Oyo State Government.
At a programme tagged “Meet and Greet”, held at Gbopa, Ologuneru, in Ido local government, the stakeholders disclosed that the government’s plan could gulp over 10,000 hectares of land spanning the six council areas.
They alleged that attempts to compel them to relocate to government-acquired lands were illegal, inhuman, and unjust, stressing that such action would dispossess families of ancestral lands and long-term investments.
Leaders of the group at the meeting included Awise Adewale Bogunmbe, Pastor Tosin Ogunsola, Baale Akinlawon (Mr. Olajire Muyiwa), Mrs. Olayinka Johnson, Mr. Femi Abiodun, Prince Salaudeen Sodiq, Alake Victoria, Engr. Lashinde Moruff, Mr. Ajao Babatunde Ibrahim, Iya Circular, and Mr. Dairo Kehinde.
Speaking on behalf of the stakeholders, the leaders accused the state government of attempting to deploy executive powers to appropriate private properties under the guise of development, warning that the move would have grave socio-economic implications.
They revealed that affected residents had commenced a mass signature campaign to back a petition to the National Assembly, seeking urgent intervention to halt what they described as an abuse of power.
“We are not against development,” the group stated, “but development must be humane, lawful, and fair to the people whose lives and properties are directly affected.”
The stakeholders therefore demanded that the state government should immediately jettison the proposed development corridor and restrict the project to the initial 150 metres earlier earmarked for the road.
