Oyo State Government has kick-started the re-verification exercise for property owners/claimants affected by the acquisition of lands on the first Segment of the Senator Rashidi Ladoja Circular Road, covering Alago to Ajota areas.
The re-verification exercise started on Sunday, 15 December, 2024 and is expected to continue till Saturday, 22 December, 2024 at the Islamic High School, Basorun, Ibadan.
The exercise aims to capture about three thousand (3,000) property owners and claimants affected on the axis, with the chairman of the monitoring team on the payment of compensation to property owners/claimants affected on the axis, CP Sunday Odukoya (rtd), noting that the exercise aims to capture the data of claimants and ensure that compensations are paid to the rightful property owners/claimants.
Odukoya, who addressed the affected property owners/claimants from Alago to Ajota area, said Governor Seyi Makinde desired that the exercise is carried out promptly so that property owners can get their compensations on time, adding that the governor does not want claimants to suffer or wait unduly to get their due compensations.
He said: “The governor gave us an instruction that we should listen to these people and see how we can help them do the capturing so that their compensation can be quickly paid. This is a way of averting them going into pains and agony. That is why we are starting the verification quickly.
“As you would have noticed, today is Sunday and we had to abandon all we needed to do to make sure that these property owners don’t suffer pains. That is why we are here.
“We have divided them into two groups and in each room, we have nine members of our team, who are listening to them and collating their documents to ascertain the genuineness.
“The documents required are NIN, documents relating to their lands for those that have clubs and those that have buildings. They should also have receipts of purchase, survey documents and any other document to back up the claims that they own the land.
“I notice that the number we are expecting is not what we are seeing here. The turnout is poor. But we will not leave here on time, because some of them here may go and tell other people affected that the verification exercise is a reality.
“We are going to conclude this exercise on Saturday and it is going to be every day until then. His Excellency has given his directive that we should do it quickly to make sure that their money is paid.
“I believe those that are missing out today will be here for capturing as the days go by. They should come with the originals and photocopies of their documents. We are only going to collect the photocopies from them but we will look at the original copies to ascertain the genuineness of those documents.”
Similarly, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, who is also a member of the monitoring team, said the exercise is free, urging affected property owners/claimants not to go through any intermediary as the Oyo State Government has not set up any accredited agent or agencies to act on its behalf.
The Commissioner said: “I am a member of this verification exercise as inaugurated by the governor to look into the claims on the Segment I of the Senator Rashidi Ladoja Circular Road and see how we are going to pay compensation to the property owners affected by the project.
“We did the same thing for property owners in Ajia, where the Air Force Base project affected landowners and the governor has mandated us to do the same thing here.
“The Ministry of Lands has compiled the list, but our team is verifying the list and making recommendations to the state government for onward payment to the genuine claimants.
“We have started the verification exercise today and we will conclude on Saturday, which is a whole week so that we will be able to capture everybody except those who don’t have verifiable data.
“For us to do a thorough job, we must not use one or two days because we want to capture 3,000 people.
“It must, however, be noted that the Oyo State government has no accredited agency for this exercise. We have told the affected property owners/claimants that nobody must pay a kobo to anyone for this exercise. As far as we are concerned, the governor is involved and he is interested in making sure that the government compensates them.”
Speaking on behalf of the affected property owners/claimants on Alago to Ajota area, Mr Kazeem Bello, Mrs Bolatito Abigail and Mr Jimoh Dauda, among others, thanked the governor for conducting a hitch-free verification exercise to ascertain the rightful property owners.
They noted that the move has brought hope and joy to them, stating that the exercise involved the vetting of the required documents to ascertain their claims of the properties.
Mr Dauda, who commended the exercise, tasked other property owners to avail themselves of the opportunity presented by the governor, saying: “They have done well with this process and we appreciate it. I want to advise those who are not here yet to come and do their own verification during the week, because I believe the governor has a good intention for us.”
Similarly, Mr Bello, another claimant said the verification exercise is a welcome development, but we want the governor to help us fast-track the process. I was happy when I heard about it.”
