By Nkechi Eze
Staff members of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) have petitioned the Oyo State Real Property Protection Agency over the alleged invasion of their landed properties in Ibadan, accusing suspected land speculators of breaching the peace, issuing threats to life and causing malicious damage.
In an official signed statement, the Chairman of the NAN Housing Estates Scheme, Ibadan, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, disclosed that the employees, through their solicitor, Ademola Sodamade, filed a petition dated Dec. 11, 2025, detailing the alleged infractions.
According to the petition, the affected landowners include Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Mrs Oluwamayowa Ayinde and Mr Adewale Owoade. The employees alleged that some land speculators, reportedly led by one Mr Kazim, popularly known as Abija, invaded the property without authorisation, removing beacons and signposts demarcating the land.
The petitioners explained that the 35 acres of land, located at Butubutu Village in Ona-Ara Local Government Area of Oyo State, were purchased between 2013 and 2014.
“After the perfection of the purchase, my clients partitioned the land and sold it to different individuals, majority of whom are staff of the News Agency of Nigeria, Ibadan branch.
“Surprisingly however, about a few months ago, Mr Kazim, popularly known as Abija, the Mogaji of Ile Aje, in Ode-Aje, Ibadan, forcefully entered the land.
“He removed and carted away some of the signposts and destroyed some of the pillars on the land with a view to selling it to certain individuals.
“He threatened to kill anybody who dared to stop him from carrying out his plans on the sale of the land,” the petition read.
The NAN employees appealed to the Oyo State Real Property Protection Agency to urgently intervene and halt what they described as illegal activities by the alleged land speculators.
Copies of the petition, alongside agreements of purchase, land survey documents, photographs and other relevant materials, were also submitted to the Olubadan Committee on Land Grabbing in the Office of the Deputy Governor and the Chief Press Secretary to the Oyo State Governor, among others.
Speaking on the development, Balogun said the housing scheme was conceived as a cooperative initiative among NAN staff members in the Ibadan Zonal Office to enable them own property through monthly contributions beginning in 2013.
“It is very sad and disturbing that some hoodlums, under the guise of working for the state government, can forcefully encroach on the land, destroy all the farm produce, remove all the beacons and signposts installed there and threaten to kill and maim any of us on the site,” he said.
The employees urged the relevant authorities to investigate the matter and ensure protection of their legally acquired property.
