Ogun exhumes corpses during demolition exercise

One of the dismantled graves where a corpse was exhumed at Ijoko

Many graves have been reportedly dismantled and their corpses exhumed in Ijoko, Ifo Local Government, Ogun State, in the ongoing demolition exercise of the state government.

Residents told PUNCH Metro that the number was expected to rise as the state continued to take down houses in its road expansion project.

PUNCH Metro had, on Tuesday, reported the demolition of several buildings and structures along the Yakoyo/Alagbole road and the Ijoko/Sango areas by the Ogun State Government. The demolition was said to be have been carried out in preparation for the expansion of the said roads.

Our correspondent gathered that while some of the corpses had been interred for as long as 30 years, a few were said to have been in the graves for about eight years or less.

PUNCH Metro counted three of such exhumed graves when our correspondent visited Ijoko.

The families of the deceased were said to have taken the exhumed corpses to unknown destinations.

A commercial motorcyclist, who identified himself as Ahmed Samora, said he was paid to lift the corpses of a couple from their grave.

He said, “I was called to bring out the corpses. They were still fresh and they were husband and wife. The two were buried within an orthodox church that was affected by the demolition exercise. I saw their family members take them to the family house.”

He said there were so many corpses within the area because it was the habit of residents to bury their dead in their compound.

The relative of another deceased woman, Mrs. Modupe Ogundele, said her grandmother had been buried for eight years. Ogundele said the family arranged for some rites before doing a second burial.

A youth in the area, Abiodun Olawore, said the demolition brought joy and sorrow to Ijoko.

He said, “As you can see, some of us are happy because we believe the road expansion project will bring development to Ogun State. Some others are sad because they have lost their property. We need companies to come and invest here and give us jobs. We also want banks in Ijoko, which we presently lack. I believe if these will happen, then we cannot rule out things like this.”

When PUNCH Metro visited the area, all manner of activities were going on around the rubble of demolished buildings. A group of men were seen scavenging through the rubble for iron rods, as some other women sorted wooden materials.

A man brought a van in which he loaded some items from a broken plaza.

PUNCH Metro gathered that some of the owners of other buildings that had been marked for demolition, had emptied them of their contents and abandoned them, in preparation for the exercise.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has asked owners of structures affected by the ongoing reconstruction of the 32-kilometer Sango-Ijoko-Akute-Alagbole road to come to Abeokuta, the state capital, to collect their compensation.

A statement to PUNCH Metro on Tuesday said the governor said this at the inauguration of a poultry pen, built by the Chairman, Ifo Local Government, Chief Oluwole Enilolobo, in Ifo Town.  Amosun said the fund for the payment was already at the Bureau of Land awaiting collection.

Amosun said, “We gave residents of Ijoko-Agbado-Akute-Ojodu areas two years notice of our readiness to construct the 32km highway. The compensation has been ready before now but our people need to go pick their cheques up at the state secretariat (in Abeokuta).

“And we have paid the Central South Construction Company, who we awarded the project to, for the past two months and we were waiting for our people to be ready.

“I had to go to those areas on Sunday to sensitise the people myself and let them know that manpower and equipment had been mobilised to site for the commencement of the all-important road the following day.

“A light rail would be constructed between the six-lane road. All roads linking us with our neighboring states would be put in good condition for economic development.”