By Laolu Elijah, IBADAN

LAND grabbing is a recurring decimal in Oyo State,especially in Ibadan.

Like leopard spots, it has remained a permanent feature and has seemingly defied all workable solutions. Land grabbers don’t respect the law; the only language they understand is forceful occupation.

So, it’s not surprising when some Ibadan Obas and village heads (Baales) recently protested against the social vice. The traditional rulers decried, in strong terms, the unabated land grabbing activities in Ibadan with suspected ‘criminals’ allegedly hiding under the cover of the state government to perpetuate the crime.

The kings alleged that these land grabbers go about in Oyo State Government vehicles and sacking villagers from their farmlands, family lands and properties.

For instance in many communities in Ona Ara Local Government Area of Oyo State at present, there is a delicate peace as land grabbers are currently on the prowl, sacking villages, and using law enforcement agents to harass land owners, and selling the grabbed land to estate developers.

Some members of the affected 40 families in a number of communities staged a protest against the land grabbing activities in the council area on Wednesday.

Oyo State Law that prohibits land grabbing

Inundated with rising cases  of the illegal act, the Oyo State government in 2016 made a law prohibiting land grabbing activities tagged ‘Real Properties Protection Law, 2016’, which prescribes 15 years or a fine of N500,000 or both, for any person who, without lawful authority, uses or threatens violence for the purpose of grabbing any real property for himself or for any other person.

At a time, the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Mr Bayo Lawal vowed that land grabbing would no longer be tolerated in the state as offenders now face up to 15 years jail term as punishment.

Lawal said: “It is, therefore, worrisome that land owners are now being disturbed on daily basis by the unchecked activities of land grabbers.Hence, the urgent need to frontally tackle that menace by properly checking and discouraging it. “It is against this background that the Real Properties Protection Law, 2016 was enacted. However, the law has not taken effect due to the fact that the task force unit, which is the operational unit of the law, has not been in existence”

Oyo inaugurates task force 

As a proactive step to stop the act, the Oyo State government inaugurated a task force that would strengthen the fight against the act”

The deputy Governor said: “Inaugurating this Task Force unit further underscores the recognition of this administration that its primary business is economic growth and maintenance of law and order, in consonance with its four cardinal objectives.

“Land grabbing will no longer be tolerated in Oyo State and under the Law, land grabbers can now be jailed for up to 15 years while those who aid and abet them will also not go scot-free.

“In setting up this Taskforce, we took into consideration public and private stakeholders in land management and security service.

“The Task Force will be headed by a retired judge of the Oyo State High Court, Justice O.I. Aiki, a jurist of high repute.

“Members of both the public and private bar of the Nigerian Bar Association are included, while officials of relevant ministries, departments and agencies as well as the Institute of Estate surveyors and Valuers are all included.”

Spike in land grabbing activities

Despite the making relevant law and setting up a task force, land grabbing activities have increased astronomically.

Alajia of Ajia, Oba Nureni Adegbenro, who spoke on behalf of all the kings and village heads (Baales) in the local government, told the land grabbing victims: “I want to assure you that this problem will soon be over. Our ancestors will intervene and do justice. 

“But I must tell you that we the traditional rulers in this local government don’t have hands in the land grabbing cases in Ona Ara Local Government. We don’t grab land from anybody, and we do not send anybody to engage in land grabbing for us. 

“There is one fact that you need to know; it is about the fact that the Adegbenros and the Akintolas are the owners of Ajia, which was established in 1886. The stool of Alajia of Ajia has been on rotational basis between the Adegbenros and Abiolas. 

“The Adegbenros and the Akintolas are not involved in the land grabbing cases. Those people that are disturbing the peace of the land in this local government are not the original owners of the land. They are only inflicting pains on our people deliberately.”

Victims narrate their ordeals

Some of the victims of the land grabbing in the council area also took turns to narrate their ordeals in the hands of the land grabbers saying one of the young village heads was beaten to death by land grabbers, while some land owners are being pursued with assassins.

One of the victims, Asimiyu Onaolapo from Gbeleyi village, said a total of 850 acres of land have been grabbed from at least 21 families in the village. 

According to Onaolapo, the land grabber that came to Gbeleyi village claimed that his great grandfathers gave the land to the owners of Gbeleyi village about 180 years ago and the great grandchildren have come to reclaim the land. He mentioned the name of the land grabbers, which is withheld by us for certain reasons.

“The land graber has been harassing us with police. They have used caterpillar to level our cocoa and other farm plantations. The developers that bought the land are also pursuing us. They don’t want to see us alive. The developers, who bought our land from the land grabbers, not us, are about to level our ancestral village”, he said.

In the same vein, Bashiru Olajide, from Ogunbunmi village, also narrated similar bitter experience in the hands of land grabbers. He called on Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to intervene.

Another victim, Ahmed Oyebamiji, from Kupalo Ogunleye family also alleged that the land grabbers have been coming to Gbeleyi and other villages with vehicles having the name of Oyo State Government.

“They come with Oyo State government vehicles. They come with guns and they would come in about 30 vehicles, carrying dangerous weapons. It has always been a scary sight to behold,” Oyebamiji stated.

Also, Wahab Anikulapo Bello from Matabo village said the land grabbing activities in the village had been reported to Ibadan traditional council at Oja’ba. But the action has not yielded positive results as the land grabbers have not stopped inflicting physical, emotional, and economic injuries on villagers in Ona Ara Local Government.

The unlawful act is not restricted to Ibadan alone. Other surrounding towns and villages are also experiencing the nightmare.

A human rights group, Save the Poor and Needy Charity Initiative, SPANCI, recently urged Governor Seyi Makinde to save the indigenes of Oloka village in Oriire LGA from land grabbers.

Making the call, the SPANCI President, Yemi Bello who spoke  from Oriire  local government area of Ogbomoso, in a letter which was also sent to the Chairman of Oyo State Real Property Protection and anti-land grabbing law taskforce, appealed to Makinde to save the people of the village from some people who intended to occupy their land.

Bello said: “We have the consent of the people of the village to write the letter.

“We, hereby, write this letter on behalf of the people to your good office to save the soul of the people from the land grabbers.

Bello in the letter which was also sent to the Chairman of Oyo State Real Property Protection and anti-land grabbing law taskforce, appealed to Makinde to save the people of the village from some people who intended to occupy their land.

Even the National President of Soludero Hunters Association, Oba Nureni Anabi also had a tough time with land grabbers. Despite a court order which recognized him as the owner of the land, some land grabbers in connivance with some security agents tried to play smart on him before he was able to secure the ownership of the land.

The Oyo State Government needs to make some of these land grabbers face the wrath of the law, else it will remain a nightmare that will continue to give residents of the state sleepless nights.

Vanguard News