Gboyega Alaka beams searchlight on the dangerous activities of communities excavating sand behind Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Camp in Sagamu Local Government Aarea of Ogun State
Bowun and Alawun are two communities tucked behind Redeemed Christian Church of God camp in Shimawa, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State. Some actually say they are part owners of the land on which the vast church camp site is situated, but that is not the news about this two communities at this point.
A resident who owns a property in the area had petitioned The Nation newspapers over what he termed the dangerous activities of sand excavators, whom he said were daily inching near the high tension pylons.
“If this people are not hindered,” this concerned resident who preferred anonymity said, “the pylons will come crashing and the effects will be devastating. Aside the fact that high tension cables could fall on buildings, on persons and even on passing vehicles, they would put the whole of Lagos end of Ogun State and possibly a large chunk of Lagos in darkness.”
Recalling an incident back in his childhood, the resident said: “The reason I am making this noise is because I once witnessed such situation and it was not funny. I am therefore calling on the Ministry of Power, PHCN, Ogun State government and even authorities of Redeemed Christian Church of God to step in and ensure this dangerous act stops in totality.”
Danger on hold
When The Nation visited the site, a short drive left of the Tree of Life Gate exit, south of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the first sight to behold was indeed scary. Though no excavation was going on, the result of their past activities was glaring.
Uphill sat a pylon bearing the high tension cables, but excavation had eaten so deep and close that it seemed it would come down anytime soon. Any more excavation or weather activities could bring the massive iron pillar come crashing.
A further half mile drive down, this reporter beheld a large field with full excavation activities ongoing. Every ten minutes, truckloads of red sand drove out, heading right towards Lagos.
Surely, these are the culprits.
But the workers and officials on the site said ‘No.’
According to Dauda Sunmola Akintoye, who described himself as ‘Son of the soil of Alawum Community,’ which owns a section of the area, their own excavation activities are very far from the disputed area or anywhere near the endangered pylons.
“Yes, we are excavating sand, but it is with the permission of the government. As you can see, some parts of this land are high while other parts are low; so what we are doing is to level the whole place to make it sellable. In fact, some people have bought it but we need to level it up to make it ready for building activities. The officials of (Ogun State) Ministry of Lands have been here and they have seen what we are doing and given us the nod. They saw that our activities are still a minimum 200 meters from any of the pylons. We even have a border fence, which is our boundary with the neighboring Bowun community. You can see that after the fence/border, there is still a good distance to the high tension pillars.”
To further exonerate his community, Akintoye and some of his townsmen and officials of the company excavating the sand, took this reporter and his team to the site of one of the pylons uphill. There this reporter beheld a pylon now protected with a big rectangular concrete erection. He said it was the people of Bowun, who constructed it to protect the pylon after they saw that their activities had indeed endangered it. From that high land, this reporter also saw that indeed, the activities of the Alawun excavators were still quite a distance from any of the pylons.
This reporter also beheld some red and white bricks, bordering a road into the Redeemed Church camp, said to have been constructed by the church management to prevent vehicles from falling of the steeply road. The bricks, Akintoye explained, were also to checkmate the activities of the excavators.
Asked who was then responsible for the dangerous excavation that has nearly jeopardised some of the pylons, Akintoye said, “It is the people of Bowun, our nei9ghbouring community. As you can see, our own border is still a distance from the site of the excavation, which falls into their area. But I can tell you for free that they have stopped. The Ministry of Lands people have been here and they have given them a stern instruction to stop. They also told us to let them know if they ever start again, which we promised to comply.”
Speaking later on telephone, Baale of Alawun, Chief Abiodun Oguntayo corroborated everything Akintoye said. He said, “We actually went to invite the Ministry of Lands officials to come and tell us how far we could work. I’m sure you also saw during your visit that we didn’t get anywhere near the high tension wires, because we know that once that happens, the whole of Ogun State and Lagos will be in darkness.”
Baale Oguntayo said he even fought with the Bowun people when their activities were becoming dangerous, but they insisted they were within their community and we could not dictate to them.
Attempts to speak with the people of Bowun proved a bit difficult, as none of their indigenes was on ground to respond to our enquiries.
The team could also not locate a certain Alladey, said to be a prominent son of Bowun on the way back to the Redeemed Camp.