Oyo govt criminalises land grabbing, says offenders risk 15 years jail term

• Inaugurates task force
• Yoruba Ronu faults electoral offences commission bill

Oyo State Government has declared that land grabbing will no longer be tolerated in the state as offenders now face up to 15 years jail term.

The Acting Governor, Bayo Lawal, disclosed this, while inaugurating the task force unit of the Real Properties Protection law of Oyo State at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office, Agodi, Ibadan.

Lawal said that those who aid and abet land grabbers would also not go scot-free, adding that the state government is set to stamp out the menace.

In her response, the Chairman of the Task Force, Justice Olajumoke Aiki (rtd), who spoke on behalf of the committee, pledged to protect the rights of property owners, prohibit illegal occupation and fraudulent conducts in relation to real property in Oyo State.

She, however, said that the task ahead could not be achieved without the firm support and assistance of the government and the co-operation of citizens.

IN another development, a South-West group, Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, yesterday, expressed concern over the recently passed Electoral Offences Commission Bill, which it described as having not gone the whole hog in addressing other dangerous incursions into the political processes and struggle in Nigeria.

A statement by the forum’s president, Akin Malaolu, stated: “The gaps in the bill are many and the most dangerous is the Sharia movement, which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has adopted through its Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket in the coming 2023 election.”

The statement reads: “We have gravely observed this breach of our constitution in the bill which, which made Sharia movement sacrosanct within the hearts of fundamentalist Muslim leaders in the country that President Muhammadu Buhari seems to equally represents.”