Edo Dislodges Land Grabbers on Irhirhi-Obazagbon-Ogheghe Communities

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

The Edo State Government has said it has dislodged land-grabbers on the Irhirhi-Obazagbon-Ogheghe road in the state to make room for the development of a new town.

The affected area is a land measuring 1,229 hectares along the Irhirhi-Obazagbon-Ogheghe road.

Briefing journalists yesterday, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, explained that the land was acquired in 2017 for the new town project but had been encroached upon by land speculators, adding that the area repossessed used to be the Ogba Forest Reserve at the time of the acquisition.

He said the repossession exercise was part of the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki’s renewed campaign against land-grabbing in the state aimed at restoring sanity in land administration in the state.

Nehikhare said: “You will recall that a curfew was declared in the area for 24 hours starting from 12a.m. on September 29 to 12a.m. on September 30, 2022, in the Obazagbon-Ogheghe axis of the Irhirhi-Obazagbon-Ogheghe road to make way for this exercise.

“On the operation in the communities, government officials entered the area at about 3 a.m. with the full complement of security personnel. The area was repossessed with no casualty. The exercise is going on peacefully.

“The government has taken over all the buildings within the Ogba River Forest Reserve and is removing all buildings, except for those it may use as offices. We thank all security agencies, members of the affected communities, the public and the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the exercise for their cooperation.

“For the records, the land was acquired in July 2017 and was duly gazetted. The government had tried severally to engage the four communities involved but they have always rebuffed the government. The hostilities and widespread encroachment have made it difficult to enumerate and commence compensation assessments.

The commissioner further noted that once the repossession is completed, enumeration would commence and payment would be made to the rightful occupants who were there prior to the acquisitions.

According to him, total structures marked out are 106 out of which 24 will not be demolished while other are being demolished and the perimetre of the site trenched.

He said: “This is an ongoing operation, and we will continue to provide you updates as the days go by.”