The contractor handling the Ibadan Circular Road, ENL Consortium Limited, has commenced the payment of N26, 043,284 million compensation to affected families.
Executive Director of ENL, Dr. Kemi George, announced this while presenting cheques to the first batch of the affected families at Badeku, Ibadan.
Dr. George said the company considered it important to compensate farmers and families who were affected by the construction of the road before it commenced work.
According to George, the new road would add value to the villages in the axis, adding that the company would need the cooperation of the villagers.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Works and Transport in the state, Waisu Dauda, urged the villagers to accept whatever token coming from the company.
He said, “With the effort of the consortium to fix our road, we have to appreciate the company, but let us bear in mind that we cannot pay all you requested for: the company has really helped us.
“Whatever we are being paid, let us accept it. It was the ministry which did the evaluation in 2016. We want you to support the contractors for you to be able to witness the road in your lifetime.”
In his own contribution, the Commissioner for Works, Lands and Housing, Ajiboye Omodewu said admonished the representatives of the families to take it to their respective families to deliberate on the sharing formula, saying anybody who refused to take such step might face the wrath of the law.
“The success of this job lies in your hands. Government has no power to change the amount they are to pay. Government does not pay for land, but they pay compensation for whatever is destroyed on your land in the course of a project.
“When we constructed roads in Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibadan and Oke Ogun, we paid compensation just as we are doing now. We want you to inform the whole family about it. Go to the family heads and deliberate on how to spend it. Don’t spend it alone. It is not something you can eat alone. If you spend alone, the Oyo State Property Owners Act will work against you. So, do the right thing because all the people who are involved in such a thing will be dealt with. If anybody is dragging your land with you, come to the ministry and we shall arrest them. If you spend alone, we will treat you as land grabbers, he said.”
