Delta State Government on Tuesday issued a demolition notice to illegal occupiers of Government lands located within the Dennis Osadebay University lands in Asaba.
Frank Omare, Chairman, Taskforce on Recovery of Government Lands, gave the demolition notice during an inspection of the affected lands in Asaba, the State capital.
Omare, who was flanked by members of the Committee, warned that Government would no longer tolerate illegal structures built on Government lands by land speculators.
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BusinessDay reports that the areas visited by the Committee included 74 Road, Musa Camp and Dennis Osadebay University, Anwai-Asaba.
Omare stressed that, as a responsible Administration, the State Government had given enough notice to the illegal developers and warned that those who had valuable items in their houses should remove them before the demolition exercise began.
He said that the Committee had carried out enough enlightenment to the affected land speculators to stop deceiving investors to acquire lands belonging to the State Government.
The chairman appealed to investors to make appropriate enquiries before buying any land, warning that ignorance of law is not an excuse.
“We have given them adequate time and they know that where they have built is Government land. None of these developers has Certificate of Occupancy (Cof O).
“This exercise will also be carried out wherever Government lands have been encroached on across the 25 local Government areas of the State”, Omare said.
Ben Oghojafor, a professor and the Vice-Chancellor of the University, debunked accusations of the University selling land to developers at Musa Camp and pledged the Institution’s support for the efforts of the Committee to recover its land.
“I have no reason, either of poverty or otherwise, induced, compelled and encouraged, to sell one meter of land belonging to Dennis Osadebay University.
“Mr Chairman, you have the full support of the university to demolish any property within the coordinates of the approved land for Dennis Osadebay University.”
Earlier, some protesters from the Iyase and Onishe families of Asaba stormed Government House, Asaba, to express their own part of the land dispute.
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Spokesmen of the Group appealed to the Government to allow them repossess part of their family land acquired from their forefathers in 1954, adding that demolishing areas already built up would render them homeless.
Johnson Erijo, the Chief of Staff, Government House, who received them, thanked them for the peaceful protest, assuring them that their request would be channelled to the governor for prompt action.
