Stephen Olufemi Oni 
Authorities of the Kwara State Polytechnic have appealed to the state government to immediately embark on the construction of perimeter fencing of land allocated to the institution in 1973 and put a permanent halt to its encroachment. Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Friday, the Director of Students Services, Surveyor Abubakar Garba Aremu, in company with some other members of the school management, said that over 1,000 hectares of land had been encroached upon out of a total land space of 4,500 hectares allotted to the institution.
Surveyor Aremu, who said that construction of development projects and infrastructure had been denied the institution as a result of encroachment by the villagers, added that threats, intimidation and litigation by the villagers had served as a stumbling block against the plan of the school to establish a school of agriculture.
He also said that encroachment of the land by the villagers had denied accreditation of such courses as Agricultural Technology and Agricultural Engineering by the NBTE. Surveyor Aremu, who said that he had been involved in the management of the institution’s land since 2013, said that 5,400 hectares were acquired for the school in 1973 when it was established by the military administration of the late Colonel David Bamgboye.
“When we ceded part of the land by 300 meters to the villagers, the institution’s land was reduced to 4,500 hectares,” he said. The institution’s Director of Student’s Services said a total number of 122 families were adequately compensated as at July 6, 1974 and advised to move out of the land, adding that the amount of money paid to the original land owners varied according to the land space acquired by the state government.
