…say 13 villages under siege of hoodlums
From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Scores of residents of Simawa Community in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State, at the weekend, trooped out to protest what they described as “illegal and notorious encroachment” of no fewer than 13 villages by hoodlums suspected to be land grabbers.
The protesters, armed with placards with various inscriptions, said that the landgrabbers allegedly imported by a monarch in the neighbouring community, have embarked on a massive destruction of their properties, farms and engaged in extortion, lamenting that the activities of the hoodlums have a become a huge threat to the lives of Simawa residents.
They, however, called on the state government to come to the rescue of Simawa residents and save the town from the notorious land grabbers, before their illegal acts snowball into a communal clash.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, a community leader in the town, Tiamiyu Fasasi, explained that the land grabbers had laid siege to the 13 vIllages in Simawa, claiming to belong to a neighbouring community.
He listed the villages to include Igbo Iwaju; Ososa; Oke Ate; Aiyetoro; Okerala; Ajebo; Kaniyi; Ewu Ijebu; Igbo Iwaju land; Mamugba; Ewu Oje; Ewu Lisa and Otusanya.
“The land grabbers invaded our community just of recent; they brought thugs with dangerous weapons to attack all the villagers, they pulled down some fences, and buildings in our community.
“The issue had started around 2018, when a purported court judgement was brought to claim ownership of villages belonging to us. We are appealing to the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, the traditional ruler of Simawa and security agents, that they should please, help us get rid of these land grabbers. We are not families, they don’t have land here, they just came from nowhere, we are not party to their case, when they were in court”, Fasasi stated.
He disclosed that the community had taken several steps to resolve the issue amicably, but all proved abortive.
“Before today, we’ve done a lot of protests, we’d gone to the palace Akarigbo of Remoland to protest. After that, we proceeded to the Governor’s Office, at Oke-Mosan last year and protested this illegal invasion
“The state government back then only sued for calm and promised us that they would do something about it, but, up till now, we didn’t see any solution to it,” he added.
Also speaking, Sogo Oyetola, said that he was attacked twice before the protest.
“I was attacked last week, but I escaped, then they destroyed my motor, they came back on Friday to destroy another vehicle of mine and locked all our women’s shops.
“They’re disturbing us because of land, they said they own 13 villages, which are our own. If the state government had given them (landgrabbers) power to do that, they should please withdraw it, they’re just terrorizing us”, Oyetola said