News

REVEALED! Over 150,000 Houses Built On Edo Government Land

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2025

A shocking revelation of how individuals and communities have illegally taken over Edo State government lands for their personal and other uses has been revealed.

Eugene Okoloise, State Coordinator, Protection of Government Property, while speaking with journalists in Benin City on Thursday, revealed that not less than 150,000 buildings in Edo State were sitting on government land, adding that such lands were illegally converted.

According to Okoloise, 27 Hectares of land retrieved from the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN), meant for a park by the immediate past administration was diverted and sold to individuals by an unnamed senior official of that administration.

Further speaking in land grabbers and their activities, Okoloise said that over 30 schools have been recovered from intruders, adding that the taskforce has received over 3,000 petitions in less than three months that it was set up.

He also lambasted some foreign companies especially Chinese firms who connive with corrupt individuals to deny the state of revenue in terms of land use charges and taxes that they ought to remit to the coffers of the state government

“Ours is to protect government property, overtime, a lot of government properties in Edo State have been taken over, 70 percent of the moats in Benin City have been taken over by individuals.

“The most attacked institutions in the state are the schools including tertiary institutions. We have recovered about 2000 plots from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma taken over by land grabbers.

“The UBTH outreach in Ekpoma, the houses there were destroyed and the land sold to individuals and they are building houses there.

“Over 150,000 houses in Edo State are on government land because most of these communities just deforest a place and start selling government land, we are going to recover all. If we say a new Edo is rising, we should rise with the new Edo.”

Okoloise added: “We have been able to recover a lot of landed properties for schools. Some of them will destroy the school land and erect private buildings.

“Like Ujoelen Secondary school where they built a brothel inside the school compound. The brothel has been seized and sealed.

“Iyeoba Secondary School, the community, divided the school land into two parts and started selling part of it to developers.”

He said there was the case of a contractor who connived with the community to shift a beacon of a school to enable them sell the school land.

He added that in Auchi, the land of a public school was sold to a proprietor to build a private school inside a public secondary school.

According to him, in another school, they sold the football pitch and built a personal house there, adding, “and they did not even bother to remove the goal post which is still standing behind the house.”

News

Edo NLC Crisis: Caretaker Committee Drags Rival Exco, Govt To Court

Published

6 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

The division in the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), took a new dimension on Wednesday as Prof. Monday Monday Lewis Igbafen-led caretaker committee approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Benin Judicial Division, seeking to affirm its authority and restrain a rival executive from parading itself as the council’s leadership.

Joined in the suit are the Edo State Government, the Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

In a suit marked: NICN/BEN/12/2026, and filed before the court in Benin, the claimant, Igbafen, acting for himself and on behalf of the NLC Caretaker Committee in Edo State, is challenging the continued occupation of the union’s secretariat and control of its assets by members of the Bernard Egwakhide-led factional State Executive Council.

The claimants are asking the court to declare that the caretaker committee (Igbafen-led faction), constituted on August 11, 2025, by the NLC national leadership, remains the only lawful authority to administer the affairs of the Edo State Council pending fresh elections.

They further seek a declaration that the continued occupation of the NLC secretariat located at No. 1 Teboga Road, Benin City, as well as the retention of union assets, financial records, and official instruments by the defendants, is illegal and void.

The suit also prays for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from parading themselves as officials of the NLC Edo Council or interfering with the functions of the caretaker committee.

In addition, the claimants are seeking a mandatory order compelling the defendants to immediately hand over the secretariat, vehicles, financial documents, cheque books, and all other properties belonging to the union.

The caretaker committee further urged the court to restrain the state government and its officials from interfering in the internal affairs of the union, alleging undue support for the dissolved executive.

The claimants further demand N50 million as general and exemplary damages against the defendants for alleged unlawful usurpation of office and acts prejudicial to the administration of the council.

According to court documents made available to our correspondent, the crisis followed the dissolution of the Edo State Council by the NLC National Executive Council on February 27, 2025, over allegations of misconduct, anti-union activities, and constitutional violations.

However, the matter has yet to be assigned a hearing date.

News

Transfer: Premier League Clubs Scramble For Dele-Bashiru

Published

11 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

Lazio midfielder, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is a subject of interest from three Premier League clubs, according to Sky Sports.

Lazio reportedly rejected offers from Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth for the Nigeria international in January.

La Biancolesti are bracing for more interest in Dele-Bashiru ahead of the summer transfer window, according to Sky Sports.

The 24-year-old has two years left on his contract with the Serie A club.

The attacking midfielder joined the Rome-based club from Turkish Super Lig outfit Hatayspor in 2024.

He has been a regular feature for Lazio this season.

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Nigerian Students To Picket MTN, MultiChoice, Other Businesses

Published

12 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS South-West Zone D, has announced plans to picket South African companies in Nigeria following the ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

DAILY POST reports that some Nigerians were recently killed in South Africa over the violent attacks.

A statement issued to newsmen by Comrade Adeyemo Josiah Kayode, Coordinator, NANS South-West, Zone D, said that the association is mobilizing to take decisive and lawful action by organizing peaceful picketing and mass advocacy against South African business interests operating in Nigeria.

“We categorically state that the continued targeting of Nigerians under any guise is unacceptable and must come to an immediate end.

“This will include major corporations such as MTN Group and MultiChoice Group. It is morally indefensible for businesses to thrive in an environment where the lives of Nigerians are protected, while Nigerians are subjected to fear and violence elsewhere.

“This contradiction will no longer be tolerated,” the statement said.