A businessman, Sunny Okeke, has demanded compensation for the demolition of his property located in the Igbesa area of the Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State, by the Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation.

Okeke purchased two plots of land from one Oke Alapa family in the said area which he had commenced erecting structures but unknowingly to him, the land belongs to the OPIC acquisition area which, upon discovery, he reached out to OPIC in January 28, 2021 to get the land ratified.

It was learnt further that, he was asked to pay N1m for each of the plots as part payment which he paid so that the land could be allocated to him but after the N2m had been paid through a bank cheque issued in favour of OPIC on January 15, 2023, the situation took another turn when on August 4, 2023, OPIC officials allegedly demolished the two buildings he erected on the land.

Okeke said, “I bought the land from one Oke Alapa family but later realised the land is part of an acquisition area of OPIC. I reached out to OPIC through one of their agents and I was told to pay for ratification. I paid N30,000 for registration and another N2m for the two plots of land with an agreement to pay the balance at a later date.

“But to my surprise, I received a call in August that some persons who are officials of OPIC had come to demolish my building despite the ongoing ratification process. I have made efforts to get them to find a solution to this but they seem not to be ready to act on it.”

In a petition written by Okeke’s lawyer, Airadion & Airadion and addressed to OPIC’s Managing Director, Okeke demanded N50m compensation which he described as the total cost of the two buildings.

When our correspondent visited the headquarters of OPIC in Abeokuta to get the corporation’s reaction on Thursday, the receptionist asked him to go and write a letter before he could see any senior officer who could speak on the matter.

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