Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), yesterday denied what it called false alarm that it is stoking religious crisis in Osun State by revoking a land earlier allotted to the Muslim community and gave it to a Christian and a Pastor.It said the report which went viral on several news platforms including Sun News Online, was a figment of imagination of its authors.
The NRC management however asserted that it has called for a full scale investigation into the matter and all parties involved have been invited by the corporation to come forward with their documents and claims to the disputed land. The report had alleged that “NRC officials are taking steps to convert a piece of land already granted to the Muslim Community for use as a Muslim prayer ground for the use of one Pastor Solomon”.
The management in a statement issued yesterday said the grave allegations against its officials are untrue, as the issue is about two temporary allottees having misunderstanding over matters bordering on boundaries on its land.
The Management of Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Railway Property Management Company Limited however admitted that the differences had lingered as efforts to resolve the differences/misunderstanding on the matter amicably had been unsuccessful.
“The Management of Railway Property Management Company Limited wish to categorically state that the issue in contention is between two temporary allottees on Railway land who have misunderstanding over boundaries. Efforts have been made to resolve the problem with no success.”
The NRC/RPMCL in the statement said a piece of land measuring 20m2 was allocated to one Lateef Oriade on Temporary permit in 2015. Another piece of land measuring 56m2 was allocated to one Bukola Solomon in 2016 and both allottees have been occupying the space since 2015 and 2016 respectively.
“In November 2021, one Imam and his son came and complained about an attempt by someone wanting to claim the land. The Area Manager in trying to resolve the issue, went with the complainant to the said site. On getting to the site, the Manager discovered that the land in question was the one allocated to Lateef Oriade which the Imam claimed had been transferred to him even though there was no evidence to back that claim.
“The Area Manager discovered that the space being occupied by the Imam is 372m2 as against the 20m2 on the letter of allocation to Lateef Oriade. But the Imam claimed that the space allocated to them is 372m2 and the 56m2 allocated to Bukola Solomon. The Area Manager further directed that both the Imam (representing Lateef Oriade) and Bukola Solomon should apply for the regularization of their allocation since the allocation in their possession is a temporary permit which they both promised to comply.
However, instead of them applying for the regularization, the Area Manager received a report that the two tenants continued their disagreement over the matter. To this note, the Area Manager gave both of them a six months revocation notice due to their refusal to reconcile and to comply with the directive to regularize their stay.
The Corporation said it does not have any record of allocation of the land in question to any Imam, Muslim Community nor any Pastor, as such, the claim to incite any religious crisis might be the handiwork of mischief makers.
The good people of Osun State and indeed the general public should disregard any malicious claim to disrupt the peace in Osun State.