Justice,
Adeniji Kazeem said the move was necessary to nip in the bud, acts of
dispossessing legitimate land owners of their properties and stifling
commercial activities as well as protect investors and maintain law and order.
The Lagos State Government
has inaugurated a five-man Special Task Force to tackle the illegal activities
of land grabbers, popularly known as ‘Omo-Onile’ in the state.
The State’s
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, disclosed that
government would henceforth enforce the provisions of sections 52 and 53 of the
state Criminal Law which prescribed a jail term of two years for any person who
forcibly enters or take possession of land in a manner likely to cause a breach
of peace.
He said the terms of
reference of the special taskforce was to reduce to the barest minimum the
activities of persons or corporate entities who used force and intimidation to
dispossess or prevent any person or entity from acquiring legitimate interest
and possession of property acquired through state government or private
organisation as well as co-ordinate the efforts of the various agencies of
government charged with enforcing the state government rights over land in the
state.
Kazeem added that the task
force would work with all security agencies to ensure enforcement of state
government and private property rights in Lagos State.
“In recent years, land
grabbers have caused havoc and unrest in different parts of the state by
dispossessing legitimate land-owners of their properties, thereby stifling
commercial activities in the state. It is therefore important that the state
government, not only identifies the effects of the problems being perpetrated
by these unscrupulous elements on commercial activities and peace of the
citizenry, but also find lasting solutions to the menace.
“That is the reason behind
the set-up of this taskforce. Furthermore, the need to protect investors and
maintain law and order also led to setting up of the committee. This, by
implication will encourage the verification of legal claims through litigation
rather than resorting to violence,” he said.
According to Kazeem, “land
is a very important asset in this state and the security of title is also very
important and therefore, anybody who uses threat of arms or physical threat to
dispossess people of their legitimate property will be treated as criminals.
This is in accordance with Section 52, 53 and 281 of the Criminal Law of Lagos
State.”
The Attorney General stated
that the State House of Assembly was currently in the process of passing a law
that exclusively dealt with the activities of land grabbers and prescribed
appropriate stiff punishment for offenders.
He said the current
administration was determined to eradicate the menace of land grabbers with the
full deployment of the resources of government towards the achievement of this
goal.
Chairman of the special
task force is Mr. Akinjide Bakare.
No comments:
Post a Comment