Physically challenged people shut down Ajimobi’s office over illegal land acquisition
Hundreds of physically challenged persons on Monday staged a protest against the Oyo State government over an alleged illegal acquisition of 20 acres of land belonging to them.
According to Daily Post, the protesters were led by the National Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Christian Mission for the Deaf, Mr. Silas Ike.
Ike explained that the mission purchased 39 acres of land along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in 2004 for the purpose of constructing the first ever special university for the deaf and dumb in Nigeria and by extension, Africa.
The protesters shut down the Oyo State Secretariat with placards bearing various inscriptions such as
“We need more than 39 acres for the proposed university”; “We want our land for proposed university”; “Please, do not oppress the deaf”; “Do not resettle people on our land”, “We bought our land with donations from people.”
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Others read, “The deaf have rights to live better life”; “We need our land for school”; “Oyo State government should not forcefully occupy the deaf’s land”; “We need our land for vocational training and deaf university” and “The deaf are helpless, please.”
The newspaper reports that they were later addressed by the Commissioner for Land and Housing, Mr. Isaac Omodewu.
Omodewu promised to convey their message to the Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, whom he said was out of the state for an assignment.
The Commissioner also promised to facilitate a meeting with the representatives of the protesters within a week.
