“No to 500m Corridor Circular road”, residents tell Oyo Governor

Owners and occupants of over 1000 houses marked for demolition on the two sides of the ongoing Circular Road project on Sunday in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, carried placards with the inscription ‘No to 500m Corridor Circular Road’ among others during a peaceful protest.

The state government had earlier demolished over 600 houses that fell within Ona Ara Local Government axis of the project.

The demolition which commenced on Monday was brought to a halt by the irate residents who claimed not to have been previously informed by the government.

The protest which took off from Ibadan-Ife expressway end of the road witnessed a display of other placards with inscriptions such as ‘We have been rendered homeless’, ‘We are issued with fake land documents by govt official’, Governor Makinde should come to our aid’.

The proposed demolition of no fewer than 1000 houses affected twelve communities in Ona Ara and Oluyole Local Government.

One of the affected residents who also doubles as the Baale Onigbinde disclosed, amid sobs, that they had earlier met with the governor on the issue, who assured that the matter would be looked into.

But he said rather than looking into the matter as promised, the bulldozers were drafted to the affected areas to commence the operation.

“As I am talking to you now, over 6000 buildings have been marked for demolition while a sizeable number of the residents will be rendered homeless.

“Some of the affected residents are okada riders, artisans and widows. Where do we go from here. We, hereby, appeal to Gov. Seyi Makinde to reconsider his decision. We are happy with the construction of the circular road but the pains of the 500m right of way are unbearable.

The state Commissioner for Lands, housing and Urban Development, Williams Akin-Funmilayo, has however, assured that the affected houses that fall within the corridor of the circular road will be enumerated while the owners will be duly compensated.

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