Residents of the Senior Civil Servants Housing Estate, located at Ayerose village in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, have lamented the continuous burglary of their homes and loss of properties.
The estate, which comprises 51 buildings, has been plagued by incessant burglaries, with an estimated N120 million worth of property stolen.
Speaking to journalists after inspecting the burgled houses in the estate on Thursday, the state chairman of the association, Issa Olude, urged Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene by providing improved security measures.
Olude stated that the lack of security and the deplorable road conditions have forced many residents to abandon their homes for accommodation in safer areas.
He said: “As senior civil servants, we have considered it necessary to have a befitting estate that can probably stand the test of time for civil and senior civil servants. We have 51 buildings here, and what we have is from the savings of members.
“We want to appeal to the government to provide Amotekun corps, we want both afternoon and night parades and security of the estate so that senior civil servants can have a rest of sleep and prepare for their work daily.”
Sunday Adeboye, a member of the association and president of the estate, lamented that the civil servants who are supposed to live in a safe and secure living environment now live in fear due to increased burglary of their homes.
Adeboye disclosed that despite previous interventions by the state government, including the installation of solar streetlights and the construction of culverts, the estate’s residents continue to face significant security challenges.
He said: “The electrification in each of the houses has been vandalised. Where they have restrictions and resistance against break-in, they vandalise the anti-buglary doors and some properties of people were carted away.”
He regarded the poor condition of the road leading to the estate as a contributing factor and called for immediate repairs to stop the incidents from reoccurring in the future.
“We appeal to all necessary agencies involved to come to our aid in providing a motorable road to this place; one of the reasons some of our colleagues left their homes here was because the road is bad.
“And that is one thing we cannot do individually; the road is not a one-man thing; it is beyond us. We need the government to please come to our aid to see that we have peace of mind in this community.”
Also speaking, Ibrahim Fatai, secretary of the estate, disclosed that no fewer than 15 houses have been targeted by burglars in recent weeks.
Fatai added that a suspected burglar was caught, and arrested alongside those who bought the stolen electrical wirings from him.
