RESIDENTS of Mesiogo Estate in Akobo area of Ibadan on Sunday called on Military authorities at the Second Division of the Nigerian Army, Odogbo cantonment, Ojoo, to respect the order of the court retraining them from carrying out any demolition or disturbing residents in the community until the determination of the suit before the court to determine the original owners of the land.
The residents also called on the Oyo State government to intervene on the issue as it has become a matter that borders on lives, adding that the title to the said land was issued by the government years back.
Speaking with TribuneOnline on behalf of the residents, the Public Relations Officer of the resident’s association, Mr Amos Ishola, stated that the trouble of Mesiogo Estate with the military authority started in June 2017 when they got the first eviction notice from the military.
According to him, they were surprised because though the military had issues with some communities since 2010, they were not part of the issue. “This whole issue started in June, last year when the military authority at Ojoo cantonment, Odoogbo in Ibadan suddenly pounced on us claiming that we are on the army land, meanwhile the community that is on the army land have been on the struggle with the military since 2010.
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“Mesiogo as a community has never been part of that struggle because Mesiogo has never been on the military land. The Mesiogo we are talking about belongs to late Chief Kolapo Isola, a former governor of Oyo state, the land was bought by him from the original owners and he laid it into plots under the name, Mesiogo hotels, Ibadan, which is his company name, it is part of his many estates within Ibadan,” he stated.
He explained that there had never been a time when the military had issues with them, rather, they had just been following the case they had with other communities.
“When the military had issues with eight other communities who were directly on their land within their boundary, they went to Chief Kolapo Ishola as a community leader and former governor to ask for help because they believe he will be in a position to help and he made himself available as he is always available to the people. So he championed the cause of those eight communities by appointing his son, Barrister Kunle Isola to champion help them in the matter.
“And as a lawyer, Barrister Kunle Ishola took up the challenge to help the communities and the matter went to court. After the court process, the military decided to send the eight communities out of the army land but because of the intervention, they just involved us in a matter that doesn’t concern us.
“This is when they now captured Mesiogo estate land owned by Chief Ishola that wasn’t part of the battle before, now that he is dead, they extended the allegation and eviction notice to us. This was unexpected. And when they came to disturb us and mark our houses for demolition, we cried out to the public will know what we are going through and we took the matter to the court.
“The court restrained the military and ordered them to maintain status quo until the final determination of the matter before it. Till now, the case is still on before the court. But the military has not stopped their activities within our estate in spite of the court order, they were selling open land and developing it; those that bought the land are already developing them. And for us we have been unable to access our houses; they have dredged gullies and ditches in front of our entrances and across all the major roads in our community. We can’t go in or take our vehicles out since last year,” he said.
But as the community held on, expecting that their troubles would soon be over when the court delivers judgment; they got another shock in the form of a fresh eviction notice. The notice dated November 19, 2018, was titled, Final quit notice of possession of Nigerian Army Land at Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment, Ibadan; the notice gave the residents a 14 days final notice to vacate the land.
“You are hereby given fourteen (14) days final notice from the day this notice is served on you to make total payment of seven hundred and eighty thousand naira (780, 000) as indicated in the attached payment slip in respect to the land/property to the recovery committee,” the notice stated.
The notice indicated that attempt by the Army to eject encroachers from its land which it claims is illegally acquired resulted in an appeal to the Minister of Defense who intervened and asked for peaceful resolution of the matter after which an agreement was reached that people that encroached the land before 2010 though they have certificate of occupancy from the state government or acclaimed clearance from the Army should pay N150, 000 per plot while those that came after 2010 should pay the prevailing rate for land at the period.
The army noted that after one year of the agreement, they have blatantly refused to comply with the condition of the agreement. But residents of Mesiogo have argued that they were never part of the earlier issue or agreement.
“We are telling them that we have never been on the Army land, we are not part of the struggle with the army since 2010; we were not part of the case that went to court. We are not involved in any way. Why are we being joined in June 2017? We expected that since the case is before the court and the court has restrained them, they should respect the order of court while we await the final determination of the matter.
“We are not even complaining about the inconvenience we are subjected to. But we expect them as an institution to respect the law; we want them to respect the order of the court of law of the land and wait for the determination of the matter before the court which determines who owns the land. We are saying emphatically that we are not on military land, we are not part of the eight communities neither are we part of that struggle.
“We are law abiding citizens and we have nowhere to go, many of residents are retirees; a great percentage of residents are widows and widowers, so to demolish our houses at this time is like sending us to our grave, if they carry out the demolition, many lives will be lost because that is the only hope of many. We paid for the land legally and we have all our required documents from the Oyo State Ministry of Lands, all our houses are duly registered with all relevant authorities. And this 14 days notice should not get to us,” the residents stated.
They concluded by appealing to the Military authority, the Oyo state government and other relevant bodies to intervene and ensure that the military respects the rule of law. “We are under democratic rule, not the military. The military authority needs to respect the rule of law especially since we are not part of the initial crisis or the said agreement,” they concluded.
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