5,000 HOUSES DEMOLISHES FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN ABEOKUTA
Over 5,000 houses are now being demolished by Ogun State Government in Abeokuta,the capital to pave way for road construction within the metropolis.
The mass demolition exercise which commenced on Sunday was still ongoing as at the time of filling this report on Friday as residents who were caught in the Web were seen hurriedly packing out their belongings and valuable properties.
The affected communities to pave way for the construction include Enuga- Ago/Oka,Mokola,Ilugun,Itoko,
Many of the residents who buried their late parents in family compounds were seen exhuming the corpses for re-burial in another cemetery,before caterppilar crushes the remains.
However,investigation by Dailydispatch revealed that,many of the affected residential buildings are archaic of not less than 50 years old.
The affected houses were marked for demolition over eight months ago,but paucity of funds denied government to commence operations.
In view of this, residents were relaxed, but development suddenly changed when the government got its share of Paris Club fund and commenced immediate demolition.
The Governor Ibikunle Amosun was seen personally supervising some of the demolition exercise,with a word to the victims that the project was for their own benefits and developmental growth of the town
In a similar development,members of Ogun State House of Assembly on Tuesday have lauded the government for the action. for fulfilling its promise on the completion of all on-going road projects across the State.
The assembly gave commendation as government mobilize contractors to all sites for the construction of the roads.
The lawmakers appealed to residents to remain calm, maintain decorum and move away from the sites of the on-going demolition, just as they called on government to ensure immediate payment of compensation to those whose structures were affected in the cause of the road construction.
They also implored the Governor to also extend the same gesture to other constituencies in the State especially those classified as rural and semi-urban communities.
The Speaker, Suraju Adekunbi while applauding the citizens and residents of the State for their tolerance, perseverance and understanding commended his colleague lawmakers for their quality representations of their constituents, assuring that the current government remained committed to rural development to alleviate the plight of the people.
Adekunbi thereafter enjoined the State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to prevail on all contractors handling the road projects to speed up works across the State as the rainy season approaches.
The Speaker assured that rural roads would also be given priority as government had mobilized earth-moving equipment procured for the Road Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) to the 20 Local Councils and 37 LCDAs to rehabilitate the rural roads across the State.
