By Adeyinka Adeniran
Over 1,000 residents and owners of structures marked for demolition as affected by the Ibadan Circular Road (ICR) project on Sunday staged a peaceful protest to call the attention of the government to their plight.
The protesters including women and children took to the highway with placards and leaves crying and urging the government to stay action on the proposed 500metres corridor to be acquired.
Corenews reports that the state government had last week Tuesday began the demolition of houses with the ICR corridor.
No fewer than 500 structures including, residential houses, churches, mosques, among others have been demolished with over 1,000 additional properties already marked for demolition within Ona Ara and Oluyole local government areas.
In all, about 12 villages and communities are to be affected by the demolition exercise.
The affected communities are Fashade, Aba Osho, Igbalefa, Adigbe, and Badeku.
Others are: Akamo, Alase, Ojoku, Dare, Isase, Oleke Meji as well as Ogido with the two council areas.
The inscription on the placards read “Governor Seyi Makinde, please come to our aid”, “No more Circular corridor”, “Mr Governor don’t kill us”, “Circular Road Corridor is massacre”, “No more 150metres set back”, “Let’s have peace of mind”, “Ijoba ewo wa laanu se”.
Speaking, the Baale of Onigbinde village, Alhaji Olalude Onigbinde said the development has rendered many residents of the area homeless and in dire need of government help.
He said although the matter was reported to the governor and the late Olubadan Lekan Balogun earlier, their assurances and call for calm by the residents have yielded no result.
He said “The situation we saw was that we woke up a day and saw bulldozers pulling down our houses and when we asked them they said they wanted to do setback for Circular Road.
“Definitely we have been going round different places to see where they build express road and we see structures along the route, but in this case, they said they don’t want to see any structure up to 500metres from the road.
“We told them that we were not told of that earlier and we have built our houses and living there for years that they should please consider us. And with the situation in the country now, the economic condition and hardship generally. We begged them to help us as poor people and they said no, that they want to go ahead with the plan.
“We went to the Governor’s Office, met him and he event visited this place to see things for himself, assuring us to be rest assured that there won’t be any problem but with what is on ground, there is problem. Many people are sleeping outside already.
“We reported the matter to the late Olubadan and he also assured us that we should stay calm. Now that they have started demolishing some houses, that means ours too is coming, even though we don’t know when and we don’t have rest of mind. What we are begging for now is that they should please hold their peace.”
Also speaking, a media consultant who lives within the affected areas, Soji Gbelekale said the 75metres initial setback for the road was well known by most property owners and same was respected.
He lamented that hearing government extended it to 150metres and later to 500metres setback has sent many people homeless and to their early graves.
He said “We heard about the Circular Road even far before we bought the land and again where the demarcation was made. The pillar for marking the metres was conspicous and everyone buying land around the axis is aware of that. It was pegged with big iron rod and people were given several metres away so that it won’t affect them.
“But later we heard that the 75metres extension to both left and right was going to be extended again to 150metres both left and right. Everyone was agitated. Initialy we thought it was rumor because it was too sudden and unimaginable.
“Later we heard it would again be extend 500metres on both side of the road. That was actually too much, a whole one kilometres extension called the Circular Road Corridor. We know that will rather serve several people homeless.
“We have been praying for this Circular Road project to come alive because we are aware it will bring us faster and rapid development and civilisation because we have suffered underdevelopment severely that we had to do many things on our own to make sure the place is developed, in terms of road, electricity and things government should do.
But now the coming of the road has become a real problem for us. Many people are already homeless as many are hospitalised.
“We are now begging the government. This government was known to be humane and people friendly and that was why we thought it was I itially a rumor. We can only beg and appeal that government should tamper justice with mercy. 150metres is already affecting a whole.lot of people, government should please be magnanimous to stop where they are already.”
