Eugene Okoloise, the State Coordinator for the Protection of Government Property in Edo State, has highlighted the widespread illegal occupation of government land in the region. He revealed that more than 150,000 buildings across the state are illegally situated on government-owned land. Okoloise pointed out that individuals and communities took over a significant portion of this land for personal and other purposes.
He also discussed the recovery of 27.3 hectares of land that an official of the previous administration had wrongfully sold. Initially intended for a park, this land had been diverted and sold to private buyers. Additionally, Okoloise shared that over 30 schools had been recovered from illegal land occupiers. His office has also handled over 3,000 petitions in under three months since its establishment.
In his statement, Okoloise criticized foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms, for their role in evading land use charges and taxes due to the state. He claimed these companies work with corrupt individuals to deprive the state of much-needed revenue.
According to Okoloise, a significant concern is the large-scale takeover of government properties, with about 70% of the moats in Benin City having been seized by individuals. The most affected institutions include schools, both primary and tertiary. He noted that land grabbers had illegally occupied about 2,000 plots at Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma and property at the UBTH outreach in the same area, which had been destroyed and sold off for private development.
Okoloise also recounted various incidents where school lands had been sold or misused, such as the construction of a brothel within the Ujoelen Secondary School compound and the illegal sale of part of the Iyeoba Secondary School land. He mentioned instances where contractors and communities had colluded to alter property boundaries to facilitate illicit land sales. Furthermore, a public school in Auchi had its land sold to build a private institution, while another school lost its football pitch, which was replaced by a private house.
Okoloise emphasized the taskforce’s commitment to recovering all stolen or misused government properties and ensuring the protection of public resources. He stated that the ongoing efforts are part of the broader vision of building a new, lawful Edo State.
