Land owners in Igbesa town, Ogun State, have protested against alleged forced encroachment and acquisition of their lands by the management of Guangdong Free Trade Zone, largely occupied by Chinese companies,

They alleged that their houses, farms and other amenities were being demolished in the process.

The protesters marched peacefully along Captain David Road in Igbesa with placards expressing their grievances against the Chinese companies.

They claimed that the companies systematically encroached on the lands, using armed policemen, soldiers, operatives of the Department of States Services (DSS), and thugs.

According to them, the companies took over lands beyond what was officially allotted to them in 2007.

A large number of Mobile Police officers were deployed to stop the action. However, the presence of journalists covering the event appeared to have restrained them. Consequently, the officers addressed the protesters, urging them to be peaceful as they expressed their grievances, which they said the company would look into.

Addressing newsmen, chairman of the Igbesa Community Association, Solomon Ajose, said: “Our community was approached in 2007 by an entourage, led by the former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Badru Salimot, to solicit for a large expanse of land for industrial purposes.

“Though they promised to develop road networks, provide electricity, pipe borne water, job opportunities and other amenities, our people in Igbesa were sceptical and refused to cede their lands to them for acquisition.

“They left Igbesa afterwards to Ejila-Awori, a nearby community, to negotiate. There, 12 villages gave them 400 hectares of land, which they fenced up and later abandoned, owing to the topography of the place and its inaccessibility. This made them come back to Igbesa, where some of our people betrayed their good conscience and gave about 250 hectares to them.”

Ajose corroborated his assertion with survey maps, indicating areas acquired by the Chinese and the vast lands belonging to the community, which were not originally ceded but formed parts that are currently encroached.

He added: “What they claim to be the lands allocated to them cannot be verified from the Ogun State Bureau of Lands and Survey, neither are they gazetted with the State Ministry of Justice.”

Corroborating, the first chairman of Igbesa Community Association, Owolabi Kehinde, said: “In addition to what Ajose said, in 2007, Governor Gbenga Daniel sent a delegation to Igbesa, led by the Deputy Governor, with Alhaji Gbenga Isiaka in the delegation, to ask the community to release part of their land for the establishment of the Guangdong Free Trade Zone, which we resisted at first. But after a lot of consultation, we decided to lease part of our land.

“A survey was carried out, resulting in the release of about 225 hectares of land from Igbesa, and about 400 hectares from Ejila Awori. Afterwards, enumeration was carried out and compensation paid.

“In 2017, to our dismay, the Guangdong management started extending beyond their allotted space into our farmlands and houses, demolishing every structure found on the land. We confronted them peacefully but our cries fell on deaf ears, resulting in peaceful protests by our people from time to time.

“Rather than the management listening to us, they resorted to using police officers to hound and arrest our people, particularly Ajose, who was picked to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, dragged to court, and after several appearances, he was discharged and acquitted.

“At the moment, they closed the only access road to Ajure Imota from Igbesa, stopping residents from accessing modern amenities, including banking, hospitals, schools, and others. Chemicals from their factories have destroyed our major source of water, killing all the aquatic lives, and making it undrinkable.”

During a visit to the company, one Ajayi Kabir, who introduced himself as the representative of the Group Managing Director, said the GMD was not on seat to attend to newsmen.

He promised to organise a meeting where the management would respond to allegations by the community. (The Guardian)

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