Ibadan estate residents cry out over planned army invasion, demolition

Building owners and residents of the Mesiogo Estate in Akobo area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Sunday raised the alarm over an alleged plan by the Nigerian Army to invade the estate and forcibly eject them in contravention of a court order that the status quo should be maintained.

In October last year, the residents had drawn attention to the fact that their houses were marked for demolition by soldiers from the 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment.

The landlords said the soldiers informed them that the land on which the estate was built fell directly on the military barracks’ boundaries.

The residents said they were told that their buildings encroached on military land and that they must pay a fine or the houses would be demolished.

The spokesman for the community, Amos Ishola, said the estate was one of the private estates built by a former Oyo State Governor, the late Kolapo Ishola, and that there were documents that showed that the community did not encroach on the military land.

The PUNCH, November 26, 2018

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