There is disquiet in some communities in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State over the procedure of enumeration of landed property being used by the government for compensation of owners. Bennett Oghifo reports
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The Lagos State government is mopping up land in Epe axis of the state for overriding public interest, according to the government.
Regardless, some communities believe the government is using predator land enumeration methods that would eventually disinherit them.
The Eyin-Osa United Kingdom Development Association (EUKDA), which comprise about 120 families, have expressed fear of being dispossessed of their land with the proposed enumeration plan by the government.
Chief Muftau A. Shittu, who heads EUKDA’s executive, said they are vehemently opposed to the procedure Lagos officials put forward to conduct the enumeration exercise, describing it as “an attempt to defraud the land owners of their God-given inheritance.â€
Describing the procedure, Shittu stated that the government would identify land owners, count development on such land, like burial ground, huts, shrines, including crops to determine compensation to the owners.
“However, our association, for the past fourteen years that different administrations have been toying with this mode of enumeration for compensation, has been rejecting it, not because it is not only inadequate, but it is also a callous means to take away our inheritance, by which the over 120 families would become homeless.â€Â
Chief Shittu said officials of the Lagos State Ministry for Commerce and Industry were preparing to carry out the exercise, stating that they were told by the officials that the planned enumeration had come to stay and that it would be carried out forcefully if compelled.
However, the group presented their request in a letter dated September 7, 2017, addressed to the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, signed by Messrs Mufutau Shittu, who is the Chairman and Kabiru A. Shabi, the Secretary.
They asked for 45 per cent as the minimum of the entire lands to be excised in the name of the association; that Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) be provided in the name of the association within the affected land area, which is Eyin-Osa area, the ancestral homeland of their members.
They also requested that the compensation that would be agreed upon by both parties should be made in cash with the current value and rate at the period of payment; and that before any enumeration on the lands begin, the terms of enumeration and compensation must be agreed upon and signed by both parties.
The group also intimated the Commissioner of what it called “Land Overlapping Scenario”, by a statement credited to the Office of Surveyor-General of Lags State, who stated that the total land areas of Eyin-Osa was 3,342 hectres and that the total claimed survey plans submitted by the group was 11,361.70 hectres and that the land owners should find a way of resolving the difference.
“This claim by the Office of Surveyor-General posed a serious challenge to us as members of EUKDA, thus, we resolved to revisit every member’s land after which we come out with the true and correct position of members’ land, thereby we will resolve the issue of the so-called overlapping”, they said, urging the Commissioner to look into the matter with every sense of objectivity.
They also appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to take a critical look at the numbers of families involved in Eyin-Osa, and how Epe Division has been short-changed when it comes to land excision, vis-a-vis other divisions, such as Ikorodu, Eti-Osa, Badagry, among others.
Shittu stated that the land issue began between 1970 and 1973 when Eyin-Osa lands were acquired for agricultural purposes by the state government.
“But to our dismay, the lands have not been used for any other agricultural purposes than what we have been doing there for ages as indigenes. The allottees had no special project that can justify such allocation. In fact, most of them were not known, but rather, were farmers by proxy.
He said, “To ensure that this act of fraud was perpetuated, government removed the ‘Right of Occupancy’ from land owners in 1993, through the revocation in the official gazette No. 20, volume 26 of 13th May, 1993.
“The above acts threw aside all benefits and the rights that belong to land owners till the new move gearing towards faulty enumeration process is being contemplated.â€
Shittu also condemned the exclusion of Eyin-Osa United Kingdom Association from the land excision carried out in 316 communities across the state between 2011 and 2015, with no single approval given to the association out of 15 applications submitted.
In their letter, the communities said, “Our prayer and request to you is to carry out a just and adequate enumeration, pay adequate compensation and sufficient excision so that our coming generation would not be deprived of their means of livelihood in the future.
“Besides, a just enumeration and equitable excision will also make Epe to be at par with other communities. What is good for those at Eti-Osa, who are today using their excised lands for big, but personal projects, is good for Eyin-Osa community.â€
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