Residents of Gerewu community in Ilorin West local government area of Kwara State on New Year’s eve, protested what they described as an attempt by the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to displace them from their homes.
Gerewu, a community of about 3,000 households and a population of about 5, 000 residents are located along Hajj Camp Road in Ilorin.
The protesters who displayed placards with various inscriptions, urged the chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari and all well-meaning Kwarans to intervene in the matter.
They lamented that they had laboured for years to build their houses and property with their hard- earned money and had been living in the area for decades only to see FAAN erecting a fence around their homes.
One of the residents who spoke on behalf of landlords in the community, AbdulAzeez Taofiq alleged that all efforts to meet with FAAN’s management proved abortive, alleging that the management had remained evasive over the matter.
He said neither a notice was served on the community nor document presented to them by FANN management relating to the land in question.
“This evening, we are gathered here because we are alarmed, we are alarmed to see that our houses and land which we laboured to acquire is being fenced by FAAN and we don’t know why.
“Gerewu is inhabited by peace loving people, some of us are retirees, pensioners who have worked, toiled for years before we are able to put up a structure, we don’t know what is happening.
“If we are displaced from our homes there will be catastrophic effects now and in the future. We are in danger, we cannot afford to lose our properties because we worked for years to put up these structures.
“We are appealing to His Excellency, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the emir of Ilorin, chief of staff to the president, Prof Ibrahim Gambari to intervene. We are peace loving people. We toiled and worked to put up these structures.
“Gerewu is not a village. Gerewu is a community with schools, police stations that are erected here by the government.
“There are many of us that have our land surveyed. How come a land that was surveyed is now being claimed by FAAN. We feel they want to veto us,” he said.
Acting chairman of the Gerewu community, Alhaji Ibrahim Shuaib, who had earlier led the protesters in a peaceful demonstration in the community, said there had never been any indication that the land belongs to FAAN.
“No sign post, nothing to even suggest that they own the land and they have not even shown us any document to lay claim on the ownership of the land”, he said.
Fielding questions from reporters, Magaji of Gerewu, who corroborated the submissions of the protesters, said the community had existed for close to 100 years.
As at the time of filing this report, all efforts to get the reaction of the management of Ilorin International Airport proved abortive.
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