Oyo State government, on Thursday, demolished some structures at the Omololu Olunloyo GRA, Adeoyo, Ring Road, Ibadan.
The demolition exercise was carried out over illegal acquisition of land, unlawful entering into the GRA and non-compliance with physical planning rules and regulation by occupants.
The demolition exercise was contained in a release today by Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Rotimi Babalola.
It was stated that the demolition was extended to the Aquatech College Of Agriculture And Technology, Ibadan as the owner of the institution was accused of engaging in leasing of government lands without approval.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Mofoluke Adebiyi who led the team, said the demolition exercise was to restore sanity into land use management, urban and physical planning and development in the state.
She revealed that the land in question was acquired by the government of Western Region for the construction of Adeoyo Hospital Ring Road and other uses.
The Permanent Secretary further disclosed that the traditional owners were duly compensated during the period.
She explained that several notices were served by the Bureau of Physical Planning over the years, but the affected occupants failed to do the needful.
“Historically, this place was acquired by the Government of Western Region for Adeoyo State Hospital. part of it is for GRA, and traditional owners were compensated duly.
“Successive administrations have sounded notes of warning, but people thought the government was joking. So we decided to move around today and act accordingly.
“We realised that some are practicing 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 said.
Mrs. Adebiyi advised those willing to purchase land at GRAs not to deal with individuals but approach the government to avoid false transactions.
“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,” she added.
She however said those who claimed to have approvals should come to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development for verification.
