Residents of Owode Housing Estate, Apata in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital have appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde of the state to save them from incessant killings and armed robberies in the estate.
The residents made the call during a protest held within the housing estate on Friday.
While addressing journalists, the residents said their neighbours have been killed and several families attacked as a result of high level of insecurity in the estate.
Spokesman of the protesters who spoke on behalf of the residents, Bamidele Lawal said many plots of lands in the estate have been abandoned by those who bought them, increasing criminal activities in the estate.
He said most of the abandoned lands and buildings in the estate have been turned into criminal hideouts, claiming that landlords and landladies have abandoned their houses as a result of insecurity in the estate.
Lawal then used the opportunity to call on Governor Makinde and the Oyo State Housing Corporation to come to the rescue of the residents.
He said, “We are here today in furtherance of our agitation against insecurity in this estate. It is as a result of some things. For instance there are a lot of fallow lands here that is over 100,000 hectares. It is affecting my family. Over 60 hectares was acquired from my family in 1976 for industrial purposes.
“No industry has been erected there. But suddenly, we discovered that the land has been allocated to ghost allotees by the housing corporation. This is not even a contention. But most of the lands are lying fallow without any development.
“This has led to some ugly crimes like rape, killing of innocent souls, exhuming of corpses, a lot of Okada riders have been killed. Go to Kuola police station, they have crime inventory there. People are no more safe. If you are acquiring a land and you don’t know what to do with it, then return it to the owners.
“These days, the killings of innocent people by hoodlums is unfortunate. It happens almost twice a week. And we have written letters to the housing corporation to that effect. And the deputy governor is aware of this case, we are calling on the governor and the deputy governor to come and save us. We have written them, we don’t want it to become another issue”.
The President of Apata Youths, Olaolu Oyeniran, noted that many souls have been lost as a result of incessant killings and attacks of innocent souls in the estate.
He used the opportunity to appeal to Makinde to listen to the people.
“We have lost many souls in this estate. It has been like that for some years. I am calling on the governor to find something about this”.