Edo community protests alleged land grabbing by govt

Indigenes of Ogbe-Ezoti community in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State yesterday took to the streets in protest against what they described as an attempt by the state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to sell their ancestral homes to individuals.

The protesting community, who blocked major roads and streets within Benin city, the state capital, caused serious traffic jam, carrying placards with inscriptions like: ‘Obaseki be a leader like Moses and not Pharaoh’; ‘Our houses are not for sale’; ‘Ogbe-Ezito Community, our ancestral homes, monuments, not for sale and no negotiations’; ‘Ogbe-Ezoti community has existed for more than 600 years’, among others.

Speaking to journalists at the NUJ Press Centre, an 87-year-old retired civil servant and a community leader, Pa Moses Obasuyi, who said they were saying no to the state government plan to sell their ancestral land to private business owners, asked the government to go to communities where there is sufficient land.

According to him, “We are here to say no to Governor Godwin Obaseki’s proposal to take over our lands and houses. The community has been there for the past 600 years. The place has a traditional ground. Governments had come and gone, and nobody has come there to eject us or give us any compensation as the government is claiming. We are saying no to the governor’s plan to take our homes and make us homeless.”

Also speaking, the Secretary to the community, Elder Doglas Osazze, said the community is not against developmental plans by the Edo State Government, but that the government should go to communities that are begging for development.

He said: “From all indication, it looks like the government is on a mission of land grabbing. The area is between Ezoti Street and the moat by Zenith Bank along Airport Road. The notice was pasted by the Edo State Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS), and sent to nobody in particular, stating that the community is to be taken “for overriding public interest.

“His Excellency, Governor Obaseki is telling us to relocate to elsewhere, which is not his concern.

“This community is home to over 1,000 people, and we have lived here for over 600 years. It serve as business centre to several businesses, from which citizens earn their daily source of livelihood, and take care of their homes and families

“Governor Obaseki and his group have us believe that they want to sell this community to private individuals, and we cannot accept that.”

In his reaction the Chairman of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists,Comrade Festus Alenkhe, pleaded with the protesters to go about the matter peacefully, maintaining that the union will find out the government’s side.

However, when contacted for comments, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Andrew Ewenta, said he was in a meeting. (THISDAY)