Over 250 residents of Harmony Estate, Oluyole in Ido local government area have taken to the street in protest over the activities of the land grabbers which have rendered the inhabitants homeless.
The development has forced the inhabitants to seek the intervention of governor Seyi Makinde, Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja and the Commissioner of Police in the state, Olugbenga Abimbola
The protesters said the intervention became imperative avert break down of law and order and to restore peace back in the estate.
They submitted that over 30 houses and many undeveloped plots of land have been allegedly taken over by the land grabbers.
Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan after the submission of their petition to the Commissioner of Police at the Command Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, one of the affected property owners, Soni Gold urged the stakeholders to prevail on the suspected land grabbers to desist from forcefully taking over people’s legitimate property.
He said the land grabber should approach the court if they have genuine evidence of ownership instead of resulting to violence in the community.
He cited example of a property owner, who went to court and got favorable judgment but despite the judgement, the land grabbers still came back and trying to forcefully take over the property.
He said, “Land grabbers are willfully destroying our properties, and trying to forcefully take over our land. The matter was reported initially. We came first with a paper from the court. So we gave it to our lawyer and while we were waiting for them to give us a date, the invaders just came, and started padlocking our gates. They came with Police, arrested some landlords and later released them. We don’t have peace again in our community.
A residents of the estate and one of the first settlers in the community, Elder Boluwaduro Famiyesi, who said he has spent over 30 year in the estate said the invaders should not take law into their hands but allow court to resolve the matter instead of resulting to violence.
He called on government and relevant authority to save them from land grabbers, saying existence of peace and harmony in the estate over the years must not be distorted.
Also, elder Ezekiah Oyedeji and Prince Samuel Adeyemi said recent activities of the land grabbers in the estate is worrisome and has became a thing of concern to the residents.
The duo however appealed to government and relevant stakeholders to swung into action and resolve the matter before it got out of hand.