The dispute between Kwara State residents and Sammya Nigeria Limited, an estate developer, over a piece of land in Budo-Osho, Tanke area of Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, has taken a different dimension.
Some landowners in Kwara State recently protested at the Kwara State Government House and the state’s Bureau of Land over an alleged takeover of their properties by Sammya Nigeria Limited, a company they accused of claiming ownership of a large expanse of land and demolishing buildings belonging to residents.
However, Sammya Nigeria Limited, while reacting to the development on Monday, said the information circulating on social media alleging that buildings were demolished at Budo-Osho, Tanke, Ilorin, on the orders of the Kwara State Government was untrue.
Sammya Nigeria Limited, in a statement, said it acquired the land from the Kwara State Government in 2018 and stated that it holds three Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) covering three locations: Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3.
The General Manager of Sammya Nigeria Limited, Olatunji Idowu, while explaining the events leading to the protest by the Kwara community, said approximately two months ago, when the company was preparing to commence development work in Phases 2 and 3, it approached the Bureau of Lands, the government agency responsible for land administration in Kwara State, to identify and mark structures encroaching on its titled land.
He said the Bureau of Lands carried out the exercise and submitted a land encroachment report to their office.
“Following this exercise, some individuals who allegedly occupied portions of the titled land without proof of ownership were informed that they had encroached on legally titled property.
“Two days later, these individuals reportedly attempted to disrupt our construction activities. Consequently, we submitted a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Kwara State Police Command, and invited community leaders, including Akorede and the Magaji of Tapa, to address the situation.
“They were advised not to disrupt our operations and were directed to channel any grievances through the appropriate government authorities rather than confronting the developers.
“When we resumed work on Friday of the previous week, some individuals reportedly went to the Kwara State Government House to protest, alleging that the developer was taking over their properties and demolishing their buildings.
“According to our account, the government officials who attended to them contacted the relevant land authority, which explained that the individuals had encroached on titled land.
“Subsequently, the individuals returned to the site to disrupt our operations. However, security personnel present at the location prevented them from doing so.
“On Saturday, when no construction work was scheduled, the same individuals allegedly returned to the site and began destroying sections of our perimeter fence,” Idowu said.
Idowu explained further that it was important to clarify that the demolition exercise was not carried out on the orders of the Kwara State Government.
“We are the developers of the estate and have obtained approval for the estate layout.
“The structures affected were those obstructing the planned roads within the estate and situated on our titled property. As part of the approved development, roads must be opened and obstructions within their alignments removed,” Idowu explained.
He further said, “Some buildings in the area remain standing because they were not affected by the road alignment.
“Therefore, the claim that the Kwara State Government ordered the demolition of residents’ buildings is misleading and does not reflect our account of the circumstances surrounding the incident,” he said.
He said Sammya Nigeria Limited had submitted a further petition to the Commissioner of Police, Kwara State Police Command, requesting an investigation into the incident.
Idowu further alleged that, “last month, the leaders of the land grabbers in person of Magaji Akorede and Magaji Tapa were invited to the State Police Command, Ilorin, after our petition to the Commissioner of Police, not to disrupt our activities on the site again. The instructions was not complied with, they came on 10th and 11th October and destroyed our Fence and carted away other valuables”.
“We also intend to seek appropriate action against those responsible for damaging our property. We have the relevant land ownership documents, photographs, and video recordings to support our position and assist the police in their investigation,” he said.
“Our position is that the incident arose from alleged encroachment on our titled land and the obstruction of approved development activities, rather than from any demolition order issued by the Kwara State Government.
“We remain committed to developing the estate in accordance with the approved layout and to resolving any genuine disputes through the appropriate legal and governmental channels,” Idowu explained.
Idowu said by obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the Kwara State Government by Sammya Nigeria Limited, it had met the constitutional requirement for owning land anywhere in Nigeria.
Efforts to get the views of the Kwara residents (protesters) proved abortive, as our reporter could not identify any of their leaders or obtain their contacts.