By: Adelowo Oladipo,Minna
Residents of Dama community in Bosso Local Government Area of Niger state have appealed to the State Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago to stop confiscating their ancestral lands and buying over their houses which is their inheritance.
They made the appeal while speaking with the Journalists in Dama community, Bosso Local Government Area of the state.
The residents however amented that the governor’s agents have been going round their community with intimidation, harassment, threats and inducement to forcefully buy their properties for farmland.
An indigene of the community, Peter Wakili noted that the community have no basic facilities like school, health care center, market and treated drinking water and even electricity supply, stressing that the lands earmarked by their grandfathers for such public amenities have already been taken over by the State governor.
According to Wakili, “Dama community has existed for over 100 years adding that it is a few meters from the Federal University of Technology FUT Minna main campus where many students usually secured accommodations off campus but have not gained the required attention of governments over the years.
“This is our home, our grandfathers left and died here , you can see where they were buried and somebody trying to take over their ancestral lands and homes to deny us our history and inheritance.
This is very unfortunate for a leader we elected to come behind to stab us in the back in the day light”.
He emphasised that they are law abiding citizens who will always respect the leadership, calling for the sympathy on the part of the leaders, instead of intimidating them.
Another resident, Alhaji Aminu Yusuf also confirmed that the state governor Mohammed Umar Bago through his agents have taken over a very large space of their lands through inducement, intimidation and harassment at the detriment of the residents of the community, calling for its reversal.
He appealed to the governor on compassionate ground to return back their lands which is their history and inheritance.
An Engineer who pleaded to be anonymous in a brief interview with our Correspondent in Minna , said he was acting on the directive of the state Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago and cannot do anything contrary to his orders.
When contacted, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary CPS Bologi Ibrahim said he was unaware of such development and cannot comment on the matter.
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