By Silver Nwokoro
The Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone Limited (OGFTZ) has debunked claims of a forceful takeover of 158 hectares of land belonging to 13 indigent families in Igbesa.
Speaking during a press conference in Ogun State, Alhaji Kabiru Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to Hadjia Hafsat Tafawa-Balewa Oduwole, Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors, clarified that the Chinese partners in the Free Trade Zone have nothing to do with land purchases or acquisitions, and therefore cannot be accused of forcefully taking over any land.
He further explained that the land in question was part of the 8,000 hectares acquired for the Ogun Property Investment Company (OPIC) by the state government over two decades ago.
Of this, 2,000.407 hectares were allocated to the OGFTZ as the government’s equity contribution in its partnership with the China Africa Investment FZ Company. He also presented relevant documents, including the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), to support his claims.
On April 5, a group of protesters under the aegis of the Concerned Land Owners Association, led by one Gbadebo Ajose, expressed their grievances against Chinese companies operating in the Free Trade Zone area.
They alleged that the company had encroached on their land, using armed police officers, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS), armed thugs, and various forms of intimidation to forcefully take over land beyond what was officially allotted to them in 2007.
The protesters further claimed that the Chinese companies had destroyed their houses, cottage industries, livestock farms, farmlands, schools, religious centres, and other structures in the course of the alleged forceful acquisition.
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