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Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

Provost, Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, Professor Kolawole Kazeem has disclosed that the state government has commenced investigation into the encroachment of the school land by illegal miners.

Speaking with Newsmen in Ilesa at the weekend, the Provost the state government panel and security agencies have identified school officials culpable in the act, hence the decision to embark on a thorough investigation to determine the extent of officials involved.

He added that apart from the menace of illegal miners, the school is facing the problem of land grabbers because it has no perimeter fence to define its boundaries.

“We have been dealing with the issue of illegal mining even before I become the Provost and we have been doing everything to stop this illegal activity. Above all, our school does not even have a perimeter fence and the encroachers just come and go at will.

“It is not only the miners that are the problems. We also have issues with land grabbers who are laying claims to the land of the college and we have been battling with these people. We stumble into it when a petition was written that I collected a Hundred million naira and that I am already selling college land.

“But as God would have it, in the last couple of days, we are able to discover that there are some elements in the college who are actually involved in the trade and an investigation team was we have set.

The Police and other security apparatus are involved in order to fish out the bad eggs and see what we can do to stop the act.

“Some of the illegal miners were brought to the campus by the government to identify the people giving them money and luckily they identify some persons and the investigation is ongoing.

“Meanwhile the propaganda against me was due to our effort to sanitise the whole system and I have done my bit to make sure the system is reformed as much as possible. I have stopped and blocked most of the leakages.

We have reduced our cost of operations. So many corrupt officials are not happy and we would not stop towards ensuring students are effectively served”, he said.