Illegal Blasting: Rights group drags monarch, two companies, before FG, EFCC, DSS others.

Illegal Blasting: Rights group drags monarch, two companies, before FG, EFCC, DSS others.

A human right Organization, the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has concluded plans to drag the Monarch of Iwoye in Osun State Nigeria and two Construction companies before relevant authority for illegal Blasting and environmental degredation.

 

The monarch, Oluwoye of Iwoye, Oba Adekoyejo Adebusoye Oyebamiji and two(2) blasting companies, the “Slava Yeditepe (now Bogu) Construction Company and WOLID Quarry Company” are to be draged before the Federal, State and anti-aging bodies over illegal blasting in Iwoye Community, Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State.

The rights group stated in a press release and made available to TEC News that the two companies embarked on the illegal blasting in the community in contrary to the environmental and mining laws of the Federation.

 

In the statement submitted to TEC News, it also alleged the former Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Wole Oyebamiji and the Divisional Police Officer(DPO) of Egbedore Divisional Police Station, Awo, Mr. Alex Osieme, of complicity of protecting the aforementioned companies against the people of Iwoye Community and alledging that the aforementioned people have been paid some amount of monies .

 

It was further alleged that the monarch of the town, Oba Oyebamiji through his two Chiefs, the Balogun, Chief Emiloju Adenle Akande and the Baara, Chief Samuel Olayiwola Alabi with the knowledge of Mr.Wole Oyebamiji, also alledged to the younger brother to Oba Oyebamiji and DPO Alex Essieme, had collected sum of Thirty Million Naira (N30,000,000) without the knowledge of the people which the two companies destroyed their residential buildings beyond redemption.

 

It was gathered that the spoke person for the People of the community in diaspora, Prince Ganiyu Olalekan Hassan, told the Police that all the rocks in the town were being blasted with nothing to show to the people of the town from the companies.

 

Prince Hassan, also informed the Police of destroying their ancestral home of no fewer than Thirty-Two (32) residential buildings worth Five Hundred Million naira (N500,000,000) through this illegal blasting of the two(2) companies.

 

He further informed the Police to immediately stop the illegal blasting in the community because they did not want the youths of the community to take laws into their hands on the subject matter, by stopping the companies themselves.

 

A resident of the community, Engineer Babatunde Adeoye led over Thirty (30) households dangerously affected by the illegal blasting of the companies in the community, in a Letter of Complaint dated 1st of June, 2020 and forwarded to the Osun State Commissioner of Police for necessary action against the two companies.

 

Engineer Adeoye further disclosed that the members of the community, had written to the both Federal and State Governments through the Federal Ministry of Mines and State Ministry of Environment to relay the actual level of damages the two companies had been done to the community for their Insensitivity.

He stated that;

“the Government then issued stop works order against the companies to evict them from the area but unfortunately, in no distance time, they relocated back to a short distance away and transferred destruction inside the town.

This move has led to further destruction of properties where Ninety (90%) Percent of the homes have suffered damages, the Homes, Schools, Mosque and Churches, all have cracked down, while others have collapsed, there is only one decent building left intact at the once beautiful Grammar school, and it is the one that has only been recently renovated by the government after its destruction by Slava Yeditepe company”, Adeoye said.

 

Commenting on the development at the weekend, the Executive Chairman of the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, declared that the rights group would soon forward a Petition Letter to the appropriate authorities including; anti- graft bodies to know the actual amount being collected from the aforementioned companies by the Monarch’s and few of his Chiefs which lead to the satanical damages of the community.

Comrade Sulaiman further stressed that “the facts-findings visit to the town recently, shown the high level of unprecedented damages the companies in collaboration with the monarch, his few Chiefs like Balogun and Baara with Mr. Wole Oyebamiji, under the protection of DPO Alex Osieme, had done to the innocent people of the town to the tune of over Five Hundred Million(N500,000,000).

 

Which make many of the innocent people of the town left the town unnoticed due to collapse of their residential buildings as a result of the illegal blasting by the two companies.

TEC News correspondent contacted the Balogun of Iwoye alledged to have been involved and he spoke both in Yoruba and English language;

“It’s the town that sold the rock and it’s with due process. It is far from the truth that the rock was sold for 30,000 millions but it’s 20,000. It was sold before we were crowned. In regard to houses been affected, the blasting has not even started. All the untrue things said are the work of the enemies”.

 

When we TEC News called the second chief, the Baara of Iwoye, he only said:

“If you want the truth, call the king. I cannot say anything on the matter”.

 

The DPO, Alex Osieme explained that;

” As the Divisional Police Officer, egbedola local government, Awo and as my duty as the DPO, mine is to make sure there no break down of law and order In my area of responsibility. I saw that write up on a whatapps group yesterday and I was so surprised. There is nothing that concerns the DPO and rock blasting because that place which they say they want to blast rock is not as if they have blasted is not my seat of power but a village under my area of responsibility. And if any registered company that are into mining sighted a rock that they want to blast, and they met with the oba of the place in the palace and all the chiefs in the palace are carried along, the police is not part of the negotiation, not part of the agreement I don’t know anything. If they have the fact that we are giving some people protection or collected money from the mining companies, they should come out and say it”.

 

He further said he came to Egbedola since 2021 and they have started blasting since 2020 and if they say he is involved, they are free to come and but it in black and white.

 

TEC News tried severally to speak with the Oba but not picking his calls as at the time we are filling this report. None of the mining companies is reachable yet as well.

 

TEC News shall update the public as event unfolds.