Flyover Abandoned In Ogun After Government Demolishes Houses Without Compensation (PHOTOS)

State governors in Nigeria are quick to show it off when they build new roads and bridges. But what’s the human cost of these new infrastructures?

The ongoing flyover construction in Ijebu North, Ogun state typifies what people suffer.

The project began over a year ago when government officials came and notified businesses and home owners near the station roundabout in Ijebu Igbo that they’d demolish their buildings within two days.

“They said they’ll pay us compensation in batches,” says Ibrahim, an old retired civil servant whose storey building was among dozens demolished to make way for the construction. “They put us in three batches and paid the first batch, promising to pay the rest of us within a short time. That was over a year ago. Today they still haven’t paid us a single naira. The government destroyed my house and gave me nothing for it.”

Apart from destroying people’s houses without compensation, the government abandoned the project after a few months, leaving the area in an agonising state. Most of the road was blocked off for the construction, and when the work was abandoned, they didn’t open the road back so motorists have to squeeze their way around the small segment that’s open, resulting in a perpetual traffic jam.

Fatal sells fish feeds in a shop close to the proposed flyover. He tells Naij, “These people have just messed up this place for us. You can see dust everywhere. The road’s so bad, it often damages my car. It was even worse during the rainy season. Everywhere would be so muddy and blocked that it was a struggle to move from here to there either by car or by foot. We’ve really suffered a lot since they abandoned this project.”

Another shop owner named Sodiq says, “You just come here and destroy houses, wipe out small shops doing businesses by the road, and then abandon this place like this for many months. This is very cruel of the government. I know people who lost their shops and houses to the demolition and still haven’t recovered from the loss.

“Then when the government eventually completes this flyover, they’ll put it in papers and celebrate it as a political achievement. But see what they’ve done to us. All we have here now is dust, demolished buildings, and a clearly abandoned project. People have lost their businesses and houses with no compensation because government is doing a flyover. That’s how government treats people in Nigeria.”

Constructors recently resumed work at the site.