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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Oyo State Government has taken a bold step to restore order in land use management, urban and physical planning in the state by demolishing some structures at Omololu Olunloyo GRA, Ring Road, Adeoyo in Ibadan.
The demolition exercise, led by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Mofoluke Adebiyi, was necessary to prevent unlawful entry into the GRA, non-compliance with physical planning rules and regulations, and illegal acquisition of lands.
The exercise, which was extended to Aquatech College of Agriculture and Technology, Ibadan, was targeted at the owners, who engaged in leasing government lands without approval.
Adebiyi stated that the traditional landowners were appropriately compensated by the government of Western Region when the land was acquired for the construction of Adeoyo Hospital Ring Road.
Several notices from the Bureau of Physical Planning, according to her, were served to the affected occupants over the years, but they purportedly failed to comply, adding that the government had to act decisively to restore order and sanity into the land use system.
She advised prospective buyers to approach the government for verifiable transactions and not deal with individuals to prevent future sanctions.
Her words: “Historically, this place was acquired by the government of western region for Adeoyo State Hospital, part of it is for GRA, and traditional owners were compensated duly”
Her words: “Successive administrations have sounded notes of warning, but people thought the government was joking, so we decided to move around today and act accordingly.
“We realised that some are practicing agriculture, which is very wrong in a GRA. They have birds and some animals in temporary structures, but we gave them 24 hours to vacate the birds and animals because they are living things
“If a place is called GRA, it is important to go to the assigned government offices, to make enquiries, because the government is the owner.”
She, however, concluded that those claiming to have approvals should come to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development for verification.
