The Edo State Government has taken over land measuring 1,229 hectares on the Irhirhi-Obazagbon-Ogheghe Road, Benin for the development of a new town.
Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser on Media to Governor Godwin Obaseki, said this in a statement on Thursday in Benin.
Osagie said the state government acquired the land in 2017 for the new town project, but it was encroached upon by land speculators.
He explained that the area repossessed used to be a forest reserve at the time of the government’s acquisition.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the state government declared a 24-hour curfew in the area on Wednesday to make way for the exercise.
According to Osagie, the repossession is part of Obaseki’s renewed campaign against land grabbing to restore sanity in land administration in the state.