Government Pulls Down Structures at Aquatech College of Agric, Others

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Some structures termed illegal by the Oyo State government have been pulled down at Omololu Olunloyo GRA, Ibadan, the state capital.

The demolition was carried out by officials of the state government on Thursday and it affected the Aquatech College of Agriculture and Technology, whose owner was accused of leasing of government lands without approval.

The officials also removed some structures around Ring Road, Adeoyo, for non-compliance with physical planning rules and regulations.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Mofoluke Adebiyi, who led the team, said the exercise was to restore sanity to the land use management, urban and physical planning and development in Oyo State.

She revealed that the land in question was acquired by the government of the western region for the construction of Adeoyo Hospital Ring Road and other uses, adding that the traditional owners were duly compensated during the period.

The senior government official noted that the Bureau of Physical Planning served several notices over the years, but affected occupants failed to do the needful.

“Historically, this place was acquired by the government of the Western region for Adeoyo State Hospital, part of it is for GRA, and traditional owners were compensated duly.

“Successive administrations have sounded warning notes, but people thought the government was joking, so we decided to move around today and act accordingly,” she stated.

Mrs Adebiyi also said, “We realized that some are practising agriculture, which is very wrong in a GRA. They have birds and some animals in temporary structures, but we gave them 24 hours to vacate the birds and animals because they are living things.”

She advised those willing to purchase land at GRAs not to deal with individuals but to approach the government to avert false transactions, saying, “If a place is called GRA, it is important to go to the assigned Government offices to make enquiries because the government is the owner.”

The Permanent Secretary said those claiming to have approvals should come to the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development for verification.