Residents of Asaba community have lamented the move by the Delta State government to render them homeless, following demolition notices served on them.
According to The PUNCH, protesters from the Iyase and Onishe families of Asaba stormed the Government House, Asaba over the demolition notice.
One of the speakers for the protesters, Mr. Chiedu Jologam said that part of their family land acquired from their forefathers in 1954 was marked for demolition.
He appealed to the government to allow them to repossess part of their family land acquired from their forefathers in 1954, saying “that demolishing areas already built up would render us homeless.”
Receiving the protesters, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Mr. Johnson Erijo, thanked them for the peaceful protest, assuring them that their request would be channeled to the governor for prompt action.
He said the government was committed to ensuring that illegal acquisition of land was not tolerated.
It would be recalled that the Delta State government, on Tuesday, issued a demolition notice to those it described as illegal occupiers of government lands, particularly Dennis Osadebay University lands, in Asaba.
Chairman of Taskforce on Recovery of Government Lands, Mr. Frank Omare, gave the demolition notice during an inspection of the affected lands in Asaba, the state capital
Omare warned that the government would no longer tolerate illegal structures built on government lands by land speculators.
He said, “The committee had carried out enough enlightenment to the affected land speculators to stop deceiving investors to acquire lands belonging to the state government.
“As a responsible administration, the state government had given enough notice to the illegal developers and warned that those who have valuable items in their houses should remove them before the demolition exercise begins.
“We have given them adequate time and they know that where they have built is government land. None of these developers has a Certificate of Occupancy.
“This exercise will also be carried out wherever government lands have been encroached on across the 25 local government areas of the state.”
