From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Residents of Fountain City Estate in Umuodafe community, Ibusa, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State have once again decried the demolition of their landed properties at various stages of development by the state government.
In a peaceful protest on Thursday the residents under the aegis of Fountain City Landlord/Tenants Association, lamented the invasion of the over 2,000 hectares of land by government earth moving equipment without prior notice, adding that the properties so far destroyed were worth over N30 billion.
The placard-carrying protesters said the plots of land were legitimately acquired from Umuodafe community, Ibusa, without any encumbrances, adding that they were surprised that the state government was now laying claims to it after they had used their hard-earned money to invest in the place.
Displaying various documents, one of the property owners, Mr Akeem Lasisi, insisted that subscribers of the said land did not violate any government rule on land acquisition.
“Before we bought this land, we made inquiries and the people from the Ministry of Lands and Survey said it was free. That is how I bought mine and brought some of my clients here to buy also.
“We surveyed the land, lodge it and it scaled through. We paid the necessary levies to the government which they acknowledged and gave us lodgement certificates,” Lasisi said.
Another land owner, Mrs Julie Ogbuagwu, a widowed petty trader, said she invested all she had in a plot of land she acquired in 2018.
“I bought an acre of land here in 2018. I am a widow, a petty trader, I have nothing and suddenly, we hear that the government has seized the land with all the money we have spent.
“I don’t know what to do, I don’t know where to start from. Please I am calling on Governor Okowa to help us, I don’t have anywhere to run to. He should help to recover this land,” Ogbuagwu said.
Also, Mr Mustapha Bolaji, a father of three, said he rarely sleeps since the government started demolishing the properties, and appealed to the governor to intervene.
“I borrowed money to add to my life savings to acquire this land. I invested N2.5 million to acquire the land.
“I am having nightmares, I rarely sleep, I sleep in fits and stats, I rarely sleep the normal eight hours a day for a long time now, I have stopped sleeping the normal hours a healthy man is supposed to sleep,” he said.
On his part, Dr Donatus Umeh said about ten of the property owners have so far died of heart attacks as a result of the state government action.
According to Umeh, after duly acquiring the land, they paid four categories of levies to Umuodafe community before they started developing, adding that all their investments have been wiped out by the demolition.
“We have lost ten members to heart breaks as a result of the demolition and we have more members in critical health condition.
“So to avoid more deaths, we are appealing to the Federal Government, the leadership of the National Assembly, the United Nations, Amnesty International and the Human Rights community to intervene in this matter,” Umeh pleased.
But the state government said the vast land was acquired for overriding public interest during the administration of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, adding that because the government was yet to commence development, private individuals have encroached on it.
Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu who reacted to the protest, said the present administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was magnanimous enough to de-acquire half of the land to fast-track development, adding that some individuals still went ahead to continue to encroach on the portion that was not de-acquired.
“In that particular land, the government had long before now acquired the entire expanse of land in that area. The land is quite massive, and since the government has not started development, there was a need to de-acquire part of it and give it back to the community, leaving some part to address the needs of the people for overriding public interest.
“After that was done, a number of persons now want to go beyond the de-acquired land and now begin to eat into the one that was not de-acquired,” he said.
He noted that the private subscribers were expected to go back to Umuodafe since the government had already ceded part of the land to the community when it was de-acquired, rather than keep encroaching on the area that was not de-acquired.