Ekiti Muslims protest alleged acquisition of land by Fayose

• Ex-gov’s aide debunks allegation
Muslims community in Ekiti State has called on the government to revoke the land allegedly acquired by former Governor Ayodele Fayose in Ado-Ekiti for his son, to avert crisis in the state.

The Muslims said that the land located at Atikankan area was acquired in 1940 under the late Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Aladesanmi Anirare, describing the alleged take-over as oppression of Muslims in the state.

President of the Ahmmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Ekiti chapter, Mr. Alawode Bashirudeen, said the organisation built the first mosque on the land in the 1940s, which had been demolished.

Some of the placards read: “No Illegal Acquisition of our land”, “Government, Give Us Our Land”, “We Want Our Land Back” and “Enough of Marginalisation of Muslims in Ekiti”.Alawode said that the group was surprised during the regime of Fayose to see new petrol station on the land.

“We went to the State Ministry of Lands and the General Manager of the Ekiti State Housing Corporation and complained, but they told us that the land had been acquired by the government.

“When we saw the structure springing up, we sent a petition to the police commissioner and he stopped the construction. We got to know that the governor acquired the land for his son.

“We have documents backing us as the original owners, so we appeal to the government to remove the structure and give us our land back, it belongs to us,” he said.

But the former governor’s aide, Lere Olayinka, said that no child of Fayose has any petrol station anywhere and that none benefited from his government.

“All actions of his government were within the ambit of the law and the records are there.“The issue in question was addressed with the Muslims while he was in office and the present government is at liberty to look into it if they have grievances,” he added.