The people of Oke-Oroma and Obagie communities in Ikpoba-Okha LGA, Edo, on Monday protested the continued withholding of their seized land by a government committee.

The protesters said Governor Monday Okpebholo had revoked the land’s ownership from its previous holders, but their communities had yet to regain access to the land.

Oke-Oroma/Obagie Property Developers spokesman Efe Ewemade said, “We came before and the governor addressed us directly.”

Mr Ewemade explained that the governor established a committee headed by Tony Ikpasaja to handle all required documentation related to the disputed land.

According to Ewemade, the governor described companies registered by the past administration as self-created, leading him to revoke their certificates of occupancy.

Mr Ewemade expressed the community’s frustration, stating that their concerns were being ignored and the committee seemed biased towards the previous administration’s interests.

In 2022, the administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki demolished structures in the area, citing illegal encroachment. Mr Obaseki had claimed the affected developers were trespassing on government-owned land without authorisation or proper documentation. 

The Obaseki-led government proposed a Coral City project on the site, allegedly allocating the land to his political associates.  

Mr Okpebholo later met with the communities and assured them that genuine original owners would be identified and assisted in regularising their land titles. 

He then established a committee, led by Mr Ikpasaja of Edo Geoinformation Services, to implement the profiling and regularization process. 

The protesters, however, alleged the committee was avoiding transparency and trying to return the land to those previously favoured by Obaseki’s administration. Their group leader, Ojo Collins, stated the committee had announced a profiling start date of June 3, which did not take place as scheduled. 

Despite sending letters, he said they received no meaningful response from either Ikpasaja or the committee members regarding the delays. 

At Government House, Mr Okpebholo addressed the protesters and asked them to send three representatives to a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. 

Mr Ikpasaja could not be immediately reached for comments on the matter. 

(NAN)