…say 13 villages under siege of hoodlums
By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta
Indigenes of Simawa in Sagamu local government area of Ogun State, appealed to the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun to save them from the activities of hoodlums, suspected to be land grabbers.
The Simawa indigenes, who made the call during a protest, which took place in the the community at the weekend, said the land grabbers had encroached no fewer than 13 villages.
The protesters, armed with placards with various inscriptions, that included; “Gov. Dapo Abiodun; Oke Rala community needs your intervention”, “Enough is enough, land grabbing is a crime”, “Enough is enough Oba Onraniken”, Kabiyesi Akarigbo, We need your intervention”, said the land grabbers allegedly imported by a monarch in the neighbouring community, Oba Adewale Adeniji, had embarked on a massive destruction of their properties, farms and engaged in extortion, lamenting that the activities of the hoodlums have become a huge threat to the lives of Simawa residents.
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 the villagers, they pulled down some fences, and buildings in our community.
“The issue 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 of Akarigbo of Remoland to protest. After that, we proceeded to the Governor’s Office, at Oke-Mosan last year and protested this illegal invasion
“Then, the state government 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
He said, “the truth remains that the Oniraniken, Oba Adewale Adeniji is only out to take by coercion what is never his, he is not from Simawa, we know ourselves, how possible is it for someone to say his land stretches to over 13 communities?
“He once took me to police headquarters in Abuja but I was set free. We don’t want to take laws into our hands and that is why we are calling on Gov Dapo Abiodun to come around and see things for himself and intervene. The people are running out of patience”.
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