Category: South West

Land grabbers are on the prowl in Magodo Government Reservation Area(GrA) Phase I damaging a portion Gateway Estate and harassing landlords and residents.

The landlords, mostly eminent Nigerians from diverse fields of endeavours, said the land grabbers have compromised the security of the estate, urging the police to arrest and prosecute them to serve as deterrence to other elements harbouring criminal tendencies.

They also sought police protection to enable them rebuild their demolished wall and live in safety.

Magodo GRA Phase 1 is located along Lagos -Ibadan expressway, close to the border between Lagos State and Ogun State; and bordered by Ikosi-Ketu and Ojodu Berger occupied by petty and major traders, civil servants and other elites.

Although Magodo phase 1, Gateway Zone CDA, a Lagos State Government Scheme, has enjoyed relative peace and good security, a group of individuals known as ‘Omonille’ have invaded and infiltrated into the estate under the guise that the land initially belongs to them.

According to Gateway Zone Community Development Association, Magodo GRA Phase 1, the unwholesome invasion by suspected land grabbers is worrisome.

The Chairman, Bode Ojomu, lamented that despite the fact that the association had drawn the attention of relevant government parastatal to the plight of the estate, no concrete action has been taken.

He said: “The ugly incident repeated itself again on Monday, 8th November,2021 when the suspected land grabbers with deception and impersonation forcefully gained access into the estate, brought in an excavator-bulldozer and moved the equipment with which they feigned to be used for the completion of the ongoing Road Construction by the Lagos State Government at Ogunsona Street to the Perimeter fence at the end of Ayo Fasugba Road.

“They willfully demolished the wall, claiming the part demolished as the access or road to the Gorge.

“However, a simulated Gate was erected by the suspected land grabbers on 8th October 2021, right behind the part demolished, just to make anyone seeing it believe a gate existed there in the past. We took their pictures and did video recording when the construction was going on.

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“All efforts to stop the bulldozer from further demolition by the residents present proved abortive as a mammoth crowd of hoodlums, numbering over 30, came in through the gorge and started chasing residents with different harmful weapons, like knife, cutlasses, bracelet charms and harassing residents with life threatening words.

“We quickly put a call across to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) who responded swiftly to salvage the situation while the excavator operator and one of the leaders of suspected land grabbers were arrested and others took to their heels.

“Petitions were written to the Commissioner of Police, NTDA, Lands and other Government Agencies to register our displeasure, disdain and protestations to an unlawful act of willful damage by Land Grabbers who invaded our Estate in gang steric manner on Monday 8th November,2021.

“We made a distress call to the Police whose prompt response on arrival dispersed the hoodlums who later re- grouped in the evening to challenge our re-securing the porous border.

“Those who invaded our estate in large numbers breaching all Estate Security rules to pull down the wall of our secured border at the end of Ayo Fasugba Road are not members/Residents of our community but Omoniles in connivance with some hoodlums who have continued to trespass and cause mayhem with reckless abandon in our community.

“In order not to resort to self-help, we have tried to dissuade the Omoniles with the help of the Divisional Police Office, Isheri, but all to no avail.

“It is so worrisome that the situation and apprehension is so heightened that the residents are now very uncomfortable about these criminal elements next moves. There’s a disturbance to public peace.

“We strongly believe that the Monday’s illegal demolition of our border wall is tantamount to malicious damage, which is a gross infraction of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

“In view of the criminal dimensions of wilful damage and serious implications of compromised security of our Estate; the Perpetrators of the dastardly act should be arrested and prosecuted by Nigeria Police,lest more dangerous acts will be encouraged if not deterred in this case with justice.

“Following threats to lives and Security of our Estate by the reason of the destroyed wall we seek Police protection and guarding while we rebuild our demolished border wall for safety of residents.”

The lawmaker representing Kosofe Federal Constituency, Prince Oluwarotimi Agunsoye, yesterday empowered youths and women in the constituency.

He gave each of them N100,000.

The legislator said the financial empowerment programme was meant to assist the constituents in alleviating the effects of economic hardships in the country.

He said that 250,000 women and youths were empowered with N50,000 each last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that over 100 youths were involved in an I CT training and over 70 laptops were distributed to the participants across the three local governments in the constituency.

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Agunsoye said that the empowerment programme was to fulfil his promises to his constituents.

“As your representative, my commitment and determination to keep my promises of continuous, viable and sustainable empowerment initiative account for the impacted stories of changed lives and  many other successes we have recorded for not just our constituency, but also  for our party, the All Progressives Congress,” he said.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu urged the beneficiaries to make good use of “this rare opportunity.”

 

The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Johnson Kokumo, has advised youths to shun vices and contribute to the country’s development.

He spoke at the 5th Founder’s Day celebration of the Thursday Business Group (TBG).

Kokumo said youths must be engaged to stem the rate of crime.

He delivered a lecture titled: ‘Security and Cultural Diversity in Nigeria and Beyond.’

The AIG identified critical members of the security business group from the policing perspective.

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He said that areas of interest regarding security and its challenges in the country included normalcy of crime, geo-cultural zone distribution (peculiarities) of crime and others.

The event witnessed the presentation of awards to personalities like Hakeem Muri Okunola, AIG Kokumo, Prof. Alexander McGregor, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Jimi Benson, Kayode Anibaba and Otunba Bola Adeyeye, who were rewarded for contributing to the growth and development of the country.

Special recognition awards were given to monarchs like Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, Kusenla III, and the Oniru of Iruland, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Abisogun II.

The Guvnor of TBG, Gbolahan Dixon, thanked the speakers and guests for attending the event.

 

Iwoye community of Ayedun, Oke-Ero Local Government of Kwara State yesterday urged Goverrnor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intervene  in the alleged lingering chieftaincy dispute between two parties in the community.

The community also decried the alleged injustice being meted out to some of its members by a certain group as a result of the chieftaincy dispute.

The community said that a certain group in the Ministry of Justice had been dropping the name of the office of the Attorney General of the state to shield perpetrators of some crimes in the community.

Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the counsel for Iwoye community, Akinmade Abolarin, urged the governor to prevail on the attorney general to maintain neutrality in the dispute.

Flanked by some other chiefs in the community, Abolarin said on two occasions, some persons dropped the name of the attorney general to get those standing trial for criminal offences off the hook.

“The main issue for calling this news conference is the glaring injustice being perpetrated by a certain group of people in the Ministry of Justice, Ilorin, Kwara State.

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“We say group of people because we are in the full belief that Governor AbdulRazaq does not partake in any activity capable of causing injustice”, he said.

He said such exercise of powers, which he said might not even be in the know of the attorney-general, was an abuse of power.

The community also called on the House of Assembly to invite the attorney general to get to the root of the matter in the interest of justice.

“Our humble but desperate appeal is to the executive governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to in the interest of justice and public interest and in order to prevent a continued abuse of legal process, caution the office of the attorney general and direct him to exercise his powers judicially and judiciously.

“We also appeal to the House of Assembly to invite the attorney general to appear before it and explain the attorney general’s stand in Ayedun and Iwoye matters”, he said.

 

Plans are on to organise an arts and craft exhibition in Lagos State, as part of efforts to boost youth employment,

the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, has said.

She made this known yesterday in a chat with reporters in Alausa, Ikeja.

Akinbile-Yussuf said that her ministry, which had started implementing the Community Based Tourism (CBT), an aspect of the state’s revised tourism master plan, had trained 150 youths to serve as tour guides.

Encouraging unemployed youths to take advantage of the opportunities available in the sector, she said they can go into arts and crafts, especially the production of items of cultural and aesthetics values, which can be purchased as souvenirs by continental and international tourists coming to Lagos.

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“Stakeholders’ input is very critical in this newly planned exhibition, which without doubt is a community-based programme that will be economically, traditionally and educationally be of immense benefits to our people in the areas so far identified,” the commissioner said.

She said her ministry had been engaging community leaders in selected local governments on the need to curb challenges such as harassment by hoodlums (area boys) and ways of harnessing the gains of domestic tourism.

Akinbile-Yussuf said the six pilot councils for the CBT, namely Ikorodu, Epe, Oshodi-Isolo, Surulere, Eti-Osa and Badagry cut across the divisions of the state, adding that findings conducted by the government showed that identified  points of tourism “in these areas can be economically viable for the residents in particular and the state in general.” 

 

The Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti in Ekiti State, Oba Ayorinde Ilori-Faboro, has sought constitutional roles for monarchs, to run the affairs of their communities.

He said that the traditional institution should be considered in the ongoing amendment to the constitution for such roles to resolve some of the lingering challenges confronting Nigeria, including insecurity.

Oba Ilori-Faboro spoke at a meeting with reporters in Ido-Ekiti ahead of the ‘Ajodun Ido Oganganmodu 2021’.

He urged the indigenes to support the celebration.

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He said that traditional rulers were oftentimes blamed for the insecurity bedevilling their subjects, adding that they should play a role in resolving the challenge.

The monarch said despite working hard  to check crimes in  communities, there are still challenges, as the government is the only one empowered by the constitution to provide security for the people.

He appealed to Governor Kayode Fayemi to reconstruct township roads in Ido-Ekiti as, according to him, most of the roads had become impassable.

On the week-long ‘Ajodun Ido Oganganmodu 2021’, which ends on Saturday, the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr. Abiodun Abe, and the National President, Dr. Sola Ogunsina, said activities, including traditional cuisine (Arin and Alamo), free medical check-up, Arewa Ogangan Beauty Contest, whose star prize is a Toyota Camry car, presentation of honorary chieftaincy titles, religious functions and sanitation had been lined up.

 

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth and Student Council has appointed Adetoun Adediran as the National Women Leader.

Her appointment was announced by the council’s National Deputy Director (Southwest), Seyi Bamigbade. According to him, Adediran’s appointment was confirmed by the Director-General, Ezenwa Onyirimba, in line with directives of the APC National Chairman, Mai Mala Buni.

Bamigbade said that the directive was also in accordance with the ruling party’s constitution to build a formidable support for the party ahead of the 2023 general election.

Adediran was the first female  Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly. She represented Surulere Constituency I. She was also the state Women Leader, Southwest Women Leader, and Chairperson, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC).

She is currently a board member of the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Epe.

 

Lagos State Government yesterday began traffic diversion on the outer Marina, in continuation of the blue line rail project.

Transportation Commissioner Dr. Frederic Oladeinde said in a statement that the diversion was to ensure the safety of road users, as a beam would be launched on the outer Marina after the descent from Apongbon Bridge.

He advised motorists to utilise Third Mainland Bridge or Oyingbo/Iddo route to connect Carter Bridge and link Leventis, to access their desired destinations, saying a lane would be made available for vehicular movement from Apongbon Bridge.

Oladeinde said motorists from Eko Bridge would be able to use Leventis inwards outer Marina road to continue their journey, stressing the need for motorists to cooperate with the state’s traffic management personnel that would be deployed in the axis during the diversion.

While thanking Lagosians for their perseverance in view of the constructions ongoing in different parts of the metropolis, the commissioner said the efforts being made will ensure that the blue line project is completed in time to create options of mobility for the citizenry.

At a recent inspection of the ongoing blue line train project, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu assured the residents that the project would be delivered by the fourth quarter of next year.

                               

Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola yesterday released N708 million to pay pensions of retirees.

A statement by the Head of Service, Dr. Festus Oyebade, said the current administration was committed to people’s welfare, adding: “A breakdown of the fund released indicates that N508million was approved to pay pensions of retired civil servants under the Old Pension Scheme, while N150million was approved to pay selected retirees, based on merit, under the Contributory Pensions Scheme.”

He noted that N50million would be used to offset part of the gratuities of retired officers under the Old Pensions Scheme.

“The list of names of the selected retirees has been posted on the notice boards of the Ministry of Information and Civil Orientation, State Pensions Bureau and the Office of the Head of Service.

“Retirees are enjoined to check their names on the boards, as payment starts on Tuesday (today).”