By Aliyu DANLADI
Members of the Association of Landlords and Shop owners in Osun Statewhose buildings were demolished due to road projects have appealed to Gov. Rauf Aregbesola to expedite action on the payment of their N2 billion compensation.
The association, at a press conference on Thursday in Osogbo, said it had been pleading with the state government for the compensation since 2014 to no avail.
It said the promise made by government in 2014 to ensure prompt payment had not been fulfilled.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Moshood Oladejo, told newsmen that many of the landlords and shop owners had died due to non-payment of the compensation.
He said the association met with the governor in June 2014 and he promised to pay the sum by December of that year.
”We want to appeal to government to pay us. Since the demolition of our houses and shops in 2014, we have been living in abject poverty,’’ Oladejo said.
Also speaking, Mrs Mariam Abiona, who claimed that her nine shops were demolished, appealed to the governor to pay the compensation promptly.
Abiona said the demolished shops were her only source of income, adding that government must come to her rescue.
Another shop owner, Alhaja Adefunke Haolat, who also claimed her 48 shops were demolished for road construction, appealed to the government to pay the compensation promptly.
