Indigenes and concerned residents of Isara Community in Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State, under the aegis of 'Isara Socio-Economic Vanguard', have petitioned the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly of illegal conduct of a politician and quarry operators in the community of land grabbing, illegal fee collection and environmental degradation.
According to the petition, jointly signed by Mr. Taiwo Bakare, Chairman; Mr. Soga Oduawo, Mr. Benson Lawal and 22 others and submitted at the Governor's Office and State House of Assembly, the petitioners accused the politician of using his position to deny the community of legitimate income and Internally Generated Revenue for day-to-day administration of Remo North Local Government.
"The politician and his accomplices are living larger than life and feeding fat on incomes that would have accrued to the State and Remo North Local Government. The Local Government Chairman who would have disallowed this corruptible practices appeared to be helpless.
"They are holding Remo North Local Government by the jugular threatening whoever cared to challenge their authority.
"For several years, our community has suffered utter neglect, intimidation, and unfair treatment at the hands of quarry operators and their collaborators. Despite being the host community, Isara had not meaningfully benefitted from the activities of the quarry companies".
They added that in total defiance to the provisions of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007, the quarries have refused to execute Community Development Agreement with Isara as the host community, stressing that the
community presently suffers air pollution and environmental degradation and bad roads, caused by the heavy duty trucks plying the road day and night.
"If the activities of quarries are not properly regulated by relevant agencies of government, we may be having high cases of asthma, lung and skin cancer in addition to untold degradation of our vast arable land and food insecurity in Remo North Local Government".
"The road linking Isara to Ago-Iwoye is now in deplorable state as a result of the quarrying activities. This is impacting food security in the Local Government as farmers are increasingly finding it difficult to bring their farm produce to the market".
"Most of the produce go bad before farmers get vehicles to transport their produce and when vehicle eventually comes, the transportation is done at a very high price".
Stressing on the need for the State government to come hard on families that are indiscriminately selling lands to Chinese and other investors without caring about environmental impact of their actions, the group noted that
families selling land for quarrying must be made to seek approval from Ministry of Solid Mineral Development in the state.
"We learnt that the politician and his cohorts are suffocating Remo North Local Government's economy through collection of unauthorized fees from trailer drivers, in addition to the officially recognized government levies and receipts", describing it "the act as not only unjust and exploitative, but also undermines the authority of the Ogun State government".
"The situation has now reached a crescendo, and continued silence or inaction may promote social discontent and voter apathy during elections".
While affirming their loyalty to the government, the residents warned that continued silence could breed “social discontent and voter apathy” in future elections.
The group demanded for full investigation of quarry operations in Peteku and Odo areas, prosecution of illegal levy collectors, enforcement of Community Development Agreements, and the establishment of a transparent framework to restore peace and protect the dignity of Isara indigenes.
"Your Excellency, we are law abiding citizens who believe very strongly in your commitment to justice, fairness and good governance. However, we cannot continue to look the other side when our ancestral land is continually being degraded without any commensurate benefits to us as explicitly stated in section 116 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007. We plead with your Excellency to please intervene in our plight to assuage our feelings".
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