Residents of the Fere and Oniporogun communities in Ogun State say they fear eviction from their ancestral land after an alleged allocation of the area to Chinese investors, warning that hundreds of people could be left homeless.
The communities, in the Orile-Mo area of Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, staged a peaceful protest and appealed to Gov. Dapo Abiodun to intervene. The allocation is alleged and has not been confirmed publicly, and the reports do not name the investors or give the size of the land.
Salau Hamid, acting chairman of the Community Development Association of Oniporogun and Fere, said residents were distressed because many had spent years saving to build their homes. He said more than 300 residents had completed houses or were building on the disputed land and urged the government to consider their plight before taking further action.
Another community representative said residents were willing to coexist with investors if the government could identify land for industrial development without displacing existing communities. He stressed that industrial development was desirable but must safeguard the homes, properties and interests of residents.
Land disputes involving Chinese-run companies are not new in Ogun State
In 2023 and again in 2025, landowners in Igbesa protested what they called forceful acquisition and demolition of properties by companies in the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone, alleging the firms had gone beyond the land officially allocated in 2007. The Igbesa cases are separate from the dispute in Fere and Oniporogun.
In the 2025 protest, landowners alleged that 158 hectares of land were taken and that homes, farms, schools, religious buildings and small businesses were demolished. Those protesters said it was the second time in less than two years that they had taken to the streets over the issue. A state official who spoke anonymously said the Ogun State Property Investment Company had acquired 8,000 hectares and allocated 2,000 to the Chinese companies under the trade zone scheme.
The free trade zone was established on land that the state first sought from Igbesa communities in 2007, according to community leaders.
The Abiodun administration has courted Chinese investment. The governor has urged Chinese partners to explore the state’s mineral resources, and an envoy said 100 more investors were on their way, according to an earlier report.
Under Nigeria’s Land Use Act, state governors hold land in trust for the people and can revoke rights of occupancy for overriding public interest, with compensation payable for unexhausted improvements such as buildings. Whether any revocation or allocation has been formalized in the Fere and Oniporogun case has not been made public.
The Ogun State government had not publicly responded to the protest by Monday morning.
