Residents of Agbado Oke Aro community in Ogun State have accused the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) for forcefully taking over their landed properties for the construction of Lagos State Red Lane Railway projects.
It was gathered that contrary to the promises made to the Agbado Oke Aro residents, LAMATA offered them meagre compensations in return for their lands and houses that would be acquired for the railway project.
On July 22, 2021, the Ogun State Ministry of Transportation invited the Agbado Oke Aro stakeholders forum which is the official group representing the Constituency II Ifo for a meeting in their office where the community was informed of LAMATA’s intention to extend the Railway service to Agbado.
“They urged us to cooperate and that they promise to provide some benefits to the area in terms of infrastructure facilities, that the affected property owners will be adequately given due compensation, but to our dismay, LAMATA came into the Community serving acquisition and removal notice without informing Ogun State,” a source told SaharaReporters.
“As a result, residents of Agbado Oke Aro sent a petition to the Ogun State Ministry of Transportation, Physical Planning, and Land Bureau in December 2021, along with a copy to LAMATA. Subsequently, a meeting was called at the Ogun State Ministry of Transportation with the Commissioner of other agencies, and LAMATA then agreed to hold a Stakeholders meeting.”
The source stated further: “In their sensitisation and enlightenment, we were encouraged to engage valuers of our choice to see to the transparency of the whole exercise and intention to compensate us adequately. This made the community to engage reputable firms of Estate Surveyors & Valuers with track record in compensation matters which are Messrs. Adefila & Partners and Kayode Akande Consulting.
“We were given assurance of adequate compensation to replace our properties. The property evaluation and assessment commenced in March 2022 with their Valuer – Messrs Laide Osikoya & Co. while the Community appointed a Consortium of Valuer of both Messrs Adefila & Partners and Kayode Akande Consulting which were present and did the valuation inspection/assessment together with the aforementioned.
“Every other activity had been on since then with every attempt to deny and sideline our valuers the right to have access to all their valuation and attorneyship which they stand for. Finally, in August 2022 claimants were invited to Agbado LCDA Office for verification which was meant to ascertain and confirm ownership of each structure. In the course of this, the compensation values were revealed to each claimant in writing and it all turned out to be ridiculous stipends which hardly can rent house or just about that on agitating, the Global Impact Ltd – Engr. Osho told us that that was the approved rate, and we could use that to rent houses.
“All efforts on various visitations to LAMATA has met brickwall and it rather came with a threat that whoever that refuses the amount it will have the amount deposited with Ogun State Government and the houses will be bulldozed for the Red Line Railway Project of Lagos State.
“To accomplish this, some of the parties involved met and decided to hire the valuers and lawyers who were working for them in order to file a court injunction at the Ogun State High Court in Ifo to stop them from doing anything else until the matter was resolved.”
“Please Save Our Soul from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s LAMATA who could not take land in Lagos and wants to forcefully take our land and houses in Ogun State for their own project in Ogun State saying the Land Use Act permits to acquire land outside their State territory. Engr. Osho had boastfully said it was the All Progressives Congress at the Central Government in Abuja and we cannot stop them,” the source added.
