They further urged the Governor to ignore communities and their tenants claiming to own the land, stressing that they are all “tenants” to them (Amagba).
The people who embarked on a peaceful protest against an alleged claim of their land by their “tenants” carried placards with various inscriptions as: ‘Oke-Oroma does not exist’; ‘Palace judgement says Oke-Oroma does not exist’; ‘Ago-Emokpae is under Amagba community’; ‘Government reserve in Ago-Emokpae is under Amagba’; ‘Government reserve is not in Oke-Oroma.’
Speaking on behalf of the people at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Benin City on Friday, Public Relations Officer of Amagba community, Elder Thomas Oghadomwangbe, said the people claiming toown the piece of land are non-Benin hence he regards them as tenants.
He said: “They are those we can regard as customary tenants. Our great grandfathers gave their great grandfathers that land for them to farm and do other jobs of which they paid allegiance to our Enogie.”
He continues, “We are saying that Amagba is the rightful owner of that land known as Ago-Emokpae. And that if the government wants to build on the land, We cannot stop the Government from making use of its own property. But if the Government is to take over everything, compensation should be paid to Amagba community and not those tenants,” he added.
Welcoming them to the premises of the secretariat, Chairman, NUJ, Edo State council, Mr. Festus Alenkhe, urged them to go about their protest in a peaceful manner, promising that his members will let the government and members of the public know about their request.
