Oyo Community Sends SOS to Makinde Over Plan to Demolish Ancestral Village
Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
Indigenes and residents of Olope Metta village in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State have appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde not to wipe out their village or demolish their homes.
They made the appeal in a save-our-soul letter addressed to the governor, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday.
The letter was signed by the spokesman of the Akinyele family, Kamardin Ayotunde and Secretary, Moshood Tiamiyu.
It was learnt that the indigenes and residents of the village located along the old Oyo-Ibadan Road were Monday, April 14, served a seven-day demolition notice by the Oyo State government through the Ministry of Works.
It was gathered that panic and anxiety over the planned demolition of their village has now gripped the villagers and residents alike.
The duo of Ayotunde and Tiamiyu, in the statement, maintained that the new markings far exceeded previous boundaries, encroaching deep into the village.
They then appealed to Governor Makinde to prevail on the Ministry of Works to rescind its decision to demolish part of their village.
The letter of appeal read: “We are the true indigenes of Olope Metta. This village is our origin, and now they are trying to push us out of our ancestral land. The markings done this time are more extensive than the previous ones, and they have now marked virtually all the houses in our village for demolition.
“Initially, when they came for the road expansion, they didn’t even enter the village. The pillars were placed outside, opposite our community, and none of our houses were affected. But now, every single home within the village has been marked. If this goes ahead, we will be rendered homeless and stripped of our heritage.
“We are appealing to our very active and responsive governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, to come to our aid. We are about to be left with no place to call our origin, no place to call home. Please, Governor Makinde, help us look into this matter before our entire village is wiped away.
“We are now calling on the government not to wipe away our village. They should take only the road and should not extend it to our village and houses. We are appealing to Governor Seyi Makinde not to wipe away our village or demolish our houses.
“They are saying that they want to demolish houses that have been built more than fifty years ago. Our village is not within the marked area but we were surprised that they said they have secured approval to take over the village and demolish the houses here. With this new arrangement, they want to wipe away the whole village.
“They want to wipe away our village, this is our origin. Even if they want to construct two roads, there will still be lands, but they still say they want to take over the whole village. They have already taken over part of our village when they constructed the new Oyo- Ibadan Expressway, they have cut half of our village already and they say they want to take over the remaining part now.
“We are now appealing to the state government to rescind the decision. We are appealing to them not to take over the remaining part of our village. If they take over the remaining part, how do we prove that we are indigenes of the village. This is what we are calling on the government to do. It is either they relocate us, give us another lands or they leave us like they met us. They should not wipe this village outright.
“In addition to that, Olope Metta land is an ancestral land. More than 70 per cent of the land was taken over when the Ojoo Road was constructed, it is the remaining one that we are using. It is the remaining one that all the indigenes are sharing.”
