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Tag: landlords

  • Ikeja Electric, landlords’ row over wires’ re-routing deepens

    Ikeja Electric, landlords’ row over wires’ re-routing deepens

    The row between Ikeja Electric (IE) and some landlords at Abule-Egba, a surburb of Lagos, over the re-routing of high tension wires, has deepened.

    The landlords in support of one of their own Mr Godfrey Iriogbe, over whose property IE re-routed the wires, said the firm was wrong.

    Speaking to The Nation, the landlords urged IE to return the wires to their original place, adding that they would ensure the firm returns the wire wto here it was to prevent a repeat of similar act in the future.

    One of the landlords, Mrs. Queen Osagie, urged IE to be fair to its customers, claiming that the action of the company towards Iriogbe smacks of injustice.

    “It is obvious that Ikeja Electric deliberately put the wire on Iriogbe’s property. For years, the wire was over the mosque in the neighbourhood. Why is it now that the firm changed the location of the wire?’’ she asked.

    She added that the firm should listen to opinions of others and remove the wires from Iriogbe’s property.

    Another landlord, Mr. Sylvester Arovo, said the community has expressed its disapproval to the issue by advising IE to route the wire properly. He said many of the landlords after visiting the building at No 5, Abiodun Onitiri Street, Abule Egba, condemned the IE, warning that if the wires were not removed, they could lead to the building’s demolition in future for being under electric cable.

    Another landlord, who identified herself as Mrs. Odigbe, said the landlords expected the Abule-Egba unit of IE to retain its original position.

    She said: “Why other landlords and I in the area are not happy is that we discovered that the Abule-Egba unit was erecting the wires on top of Iriogbe’s property. Why should the firm do this to him? The company is setting a bad precedence. The implication is that any of the landlords can be a victim in future. That is the reason landlords are appealing to IE management to be fair on the issue.’’

    Iriogbe,  a member of staff of The Nation, said he had met town planning rules and regulations, including providing 30 centimetres setback to the road before building his house, wondering what the firm was after.

    According to him, IE is playing politics with the issue, adding that the firm was not making any move to resolve the issue.

    He said though IE, in a letter dated November 28, 2016 and signed by its Hea d of Legal Department, Mr. Babatunde Osadare, promised to address the matter, it had not done so.

  • Ikeja DisCo, landlords disagree over re-routing of high-tension wire

    Ikeja DisCo, landlords disagree over re-routing of high-tension wire

    The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo), now Ikeja Electric (IE), and some landlords at Abule- Egba, a suburb of Lagos, are at loggerheads over the re-routing of a high tension wire, which will pass over the building of one of their own.

    Ikeja DisCo had, on October 18,   erected a high tension wire over  a building at 5, Abiodun Onitiri Street, Abule Egba, which belongs to The Nation man Mr. Godfrey Iriogbe.

    The wire formerly passed over a mosque.

    The development has drawn the ire of landlords in the area, after efforts and entreaties by Godfrey to dissuade IE Abule-Egba Business Unit from rerouting the high tension line failed.

    With that decision, the utility firm has put the lives and property of the people living in the bulding in danger.

    Iriogbe stated that when he contacted the Business Unit of Ikeja Electric in Ijaiye Ojokoro and it refused to heed his pleas, he wrote a letter to the firm’s headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Landlords in the area said Ikeja Electric was not being fair to the Iriogbe’s family. They said the firm did not following due process in erecting the wires on Iriogbe’s property, adding that Ikeja Electric could do the same to any of them in future, if the government and IE management did not intervene to save the situation.

    One of the owners of properties in the area, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Odigbe, said the landlords expected the Abule-Egba unit of IE to retain the line on its original position.

    She said: “Why I and other landlords in the area are not happy is that we discovered that the Abule-Egba unit was erecting the wires on top of Iriogbe’s property. Why should the firm do this to Iriogbe’s family? The company is setting a bad precedence. The implication is that any of the landlords can be a victim in future. That is the reason landlords are appealing to Ikeja Electric management to be fair on the issue.

    Iriogbe said the Abule-Egba District management disregarded due process by passing high tension wires over a residential building knowing the dangers of their action, especially when such wires are being removed from their original position.

    He alleged foul play in the matter, accusing the district and the contractor handling the project of trying to favour some people to his detriment.

    He urged IE to be fair by returning the wire to its former place.

    “It is obvious that the mosque, which originally housed the wires and my father’s property, were metres away from each other. How can one explain a situation where wires were taken from a property to another one’’, he asked.

    The Business Manager, Ijaiye Ojokoro Business Unit of IE, Abdullahi Mohammed, was not available to comment on the issue, when The Nation visited his office; but the Head, Network Operation, Mr. Olufemi Adebayo said due process was followed on the issue.

    He said many of the landlords failed to meet town planning rules and regulation, including providing 30 centimetres setback to the road before building their houses. He said the landlords would not do themselves any good by complaining about the issue because they were all guilty of the offence and would have problems with the government, once the government decides to act on the issue.

    IE Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Felix Ofolue, said he expected the issue to have been sorted out by now.

  • ‘Abductors collected N16m to free kidnapped Lagos, Ogun landlords’

    ‘Abductors collected N16m to free kidnapped Lagos, Ogun landlords’

    • Police dispute claim

    Three abducted landlords at Oshorun Heritage Estate, during a fitness exercise, their trainer and some farmers kidnapped last weekend In Isheri and Epe areas of Ogun and Lagos States have been freed.

    Kennedy Ucheagwu, Dr. Omololu Bello, Fidelis Esang and trainer Olalere Olawale, as well as Toyosi Aboderin, Ogechi Maku, Toju Amorighoye, and six-month-old Funniyi Tayo Lawal were freed by their abductors in the wee hours of yesterday.

    Although the gunmen, suspected to be Niger Delta militants had allegedly demanded N1.2 billion for the freedom of the four Isheri victims, it was learnt that they eventually collected N16million ransom.

    The Nation learnt that the ransom was paid at about 10pm by a group of men, who went close to the island where the victims were held and deposited the amount at a designated spot.

    It was learnt that the victims were then dropped off at a place near the estate as agreed by the kidnappers at about 12am, while the Epe farmers, were said to have returned home into the waiting arms of their family members around 1:30am.

    The Nation gathered that the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Army and the Air Force have been combing the bushes and gathering footages of the kidnappers.

    It was learnt that the service provider (Etisalat) whose simcard was used in contacting relatives for ransom was tracked and the name, pictures and other vital information of the leader of the gang was revealed.

    He was said to be a young man buy with affluence as he allegedly owns a huge mansion with several exotic cars.

    Also revealed was the identity of the lady who ran errand like buying food and other basic things for the gang and hostages.

    It was however learnt that the security operatives were unable to use force on the kidnappers since the victims were still in their custody.

    At the estate yesterday, residents rejoiced over the safe return of the victims, urging that security be beefed up in the area to avoid recurrence.

    They said the victims were sighted at about 11:45pm near the creek by vigilantes who thought they were criminals.

    “The local vigilantes wanted to shoot but the victims told them that they were those kidnapped last Saturday. The vigilantes then used their motorcycles to take them to their homes one after the other,” said a resident.

    They urged the police to equip its marine unit, as well as establish a post within the neighbourhood, expressing fears that they gunmen could strike again.

    The Nation gathered that the victims were taken to an isolated island, where the militants ensured that they were ‘comfortable’.

    A resident who refused to be named, said victims and all those aware of the ransom were warned by the police to not mention it, adding that they were told that admitting to it could attract more danger to the estate.

    At Dr. Bello’s residence which houses a training school, journalists were denied access, as people trooped in to show their solidarity.

     

  • Chibok community hails govt, landlords of rescued girls

    Members of the Chibok community under the umbrella body of the Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) have lauded the Federal Government for rehabilitating the two rescued Chibok school girls, Amina Nkeki and Sarah Luka.

    According to the community, the leaders who were given access to the girls have confirmed the government’s handling of the Psycho-social Counseling and Reintegration Process of the girls.

    The community is also appreciative of the government’s return to the reconstruction of the Chibok secondary school which was burnt down more than two years ago by insurgents.

    It urged the government and the international community to fast track the reconstruction of the school and build an additional one to cater for the educational needs of the teeming school age children in the area.

    Chairman, KADA, Abuja Branch, Tsambido Abana, yesterday said: “On a sad note however, we are once again expressing our deep concern over the continued inability of the Government to rescue the remaining 218 abducted girls particularly in light of the recent information provided by Amina Ali Nkeki. Since Amina was rescued on May 17th 2016, we are not aware of further effort on the part of the Government towards rescuing the remaining girls.

    “With the deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force and relocation of Training Squad from Kontogora to Buni Yadi, we feel that these developments will add impetus to the effort of the Government.  We plead and urge the Government, International Community and Civil Society Organizations to intensify effort towards the rescue of the schoolgirls who are victims of circumstance and return them to their communities soonest.

    “The third issue is the inordinate delay in the reconstruction of the destroyed School, where the girls were abducted. It is worthy to note that this is the only Secondary School in the whole of the Local Government Area but was destroyed by the insurgents on the fateful day of the abduction. In April 14th, 2015, the Federal Government made an apparent effort to rebuild the school by taking some building materials to the site but since then, it suffered set back and stagnation. The parents of the abducted girls and leaders of the community made an appeal to the Federal Government delegation that visited Chibok on 14th April, 2016 on the occasion of the two-year commemoration of the abduction. This plea and other similar efforts made by the Chibok resident in Abuja and the community did not produce the desired result at the appropriate time.”

  • Landlords, developer trade words over demolition of houses

    Landlords, developer trade words over demolition of houses

    Some landlords in Ilamoshe Estate in Ejigbo, Lagos, have accused a developer of illegally demolishing their houses.

    The developer is allegedly relying on a court judgment to carry out the demolition, but the landlords are claiming their buildings do not fall within the area covered by the verdict.

    The landlords, Idowu Malomo, Adewale Adenuga, Mrs Funmi Sanni, Andrew Itimi, Captain Joseph Awodeha, Raymond Uzor and Hammed Ishola Makanju said their houses were not part of the land covered by the judgement.

    In a petition to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Inspector-General of Police and Lagos State Chief Judge, their lawyer, Mr Gbenga Ojo accused the developer of vandalising his clients’ houses in a bid to “forcibly eject them”.

    The January 22 petition reads: “We are writing because as the governor of Lagos State, you are the Chief Security Officer of the state and we have absolute confidence that you will protect the lives and property of our clients from land grabbers/ajagungbales using authority of the police and the judiciary to perpetrate acts of violence, brigandage and gangsterism without any regard for the rule of law.

    “The landlords have been in peaceful and undisturbed possession of their property for between 15 and 25 years.”

    The petitioners alleged that their buildings were destroyed despite not being under the judgment relied upon by the developer.

    They said: “Some group of people led by Alhaji Hakeem Osuolale, first pasted public notice on the front doors of our clients’ properties to warn them about series of court judgments granted in favour of Abiodun Omodele Ojo and Mrs Jokotade Bakare. “Our clients met him and informed him that their various parcel of land are outside the land covered by the judgment but he refused to listen.

    “Unfortunately, what followed was unbelievable and unimaginable. He brought some policemen and over 500 hoodlums to pull down part of the buildings and fences of our clients in broad daylight. After all these, apparently fearing loss of lives, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), requested all the parties to go to the office of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State to determine the extent of boundary covered by the judgment and this was done.”

    They said they were still being harassed despite the Surveyor-General’s report that their houses were not captured under the judgment.

    “This”, they said, “is an act of impunity, which we know and believe that your government, which is a government of change will not tolerate from anybody or authority in the state. We, therefore, appeal to you as a matter of urgency to protect our clients, members of their families and their properties from these vandals threatening the peace and security of the state. The report of the Surveyor-General clearly showed that the various parcels of land that belong to our clients are not within the land covered by the judgment.”

    Contacted, Osuolale advised the landlords to go to court if they are dissatisfied with the judgment.

    “If they (landlords) have any issue with the judgment they should approach the court instead of making their case on the pages of newspaper,” he said.

    Speaking with The Nation, Ojo said there were two orders restraining Osuolale and others from trespassing on his clients’ properties.

    He said: “On February 23, Justice L. A. F. Oluyemi of Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja gave an interim order restraining them and the police from going to our clients’ land while Justice Ganiyu Safari, also of Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja on Wednesday February 24 equally granted an order restraining the developer from going to our clients’ landed property.”

    In a communiqué issued at the end of a meeting, the Joint Ilamoshe Community Development Association, to which the landlords belong, said: “The meeting observed that the said judgment did not affect all the land in Ilamoshe, by virtue of the areas verged red in the judgment-creditor’s survey plan. Such areas not included in the said judgment include all the areas in the streets not mentioned at all in the judgment which do not fall within the area verged red in the judgment-creditor’s survey plan No: LA/1425/001/2011 dated 22nd August, 2011. It also includes streets not mentioned at all in the said judgement, which includes, but not limited to the following: Alimi Bada Street; Omoyele Street; Olokobi Lane; Adeyemi Odumade Street; Hammed Makanjuola Avenue; Peace Estate comprising of Labake Adepoju Street; Dim Alor Street; Alhaji Ademola Saka Street and Alhaji Wasiu Sholola Streets.

    “It is only the Deputy Sheriff of the High Court of Lagos State that has the right to levy execution of judgment of the said court in company of police officers. Unfortunately, the judgment-creditor has resorted to self-help in the execution of the said judgment.”

  • Lagos to go after landlords with poor septic tanks

    Lagos to go after landlords with poor septic tanks

    The Lagos State government has vowed to clamp down on owners of buildings with poor or substandard septic tanks.

    Commissioner for the Environment Babatunde Adejare gave this warning yesterday at the stakeholder’s forum for Sensitisation and Public Awareness on Environmental and Health Implications at the Agege Mini Stadium.

    The commissioner reiterated that the government would no longer permit any landlord providing a toilet for  60 tenants.

    According to him, the management of 2.1billion litres of waste water generated by over 20 million Lagosians daily, with the attendant health and environmental implication is a task that necessitates the ongoing efforts.

    He said: “The law prescribes punishment for them. Now, KAI environmental officers will be doing part of it.

    “This is part of what they will be doing. We will come to enforce the law. A lot of things are abnormal in our environment; we won’t allow people to dispose refuse in the drainage.

    “Imagine a landlord of 25 rooms having a single toilet. He makes money from the building but cannot get toilet for the tenants.

    “How much do people build a toilet? Since government doesn’t collect any money from landlords, they should use it to build toilets for their tenants.

    “The idea of tenants queuing before they can use the toilet will no longer be tolerated.

    “Just imagine a 25-room apartment and over 10 people live in each of the rooms. How can they cope with one toilet?”

    Adejare described the theme of the forum entitled: “Waste water Management-Perfecting the Natural Practice” as apt.

    He added that people should desist from digging their borehole and well water close to the septic tank.

    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Adeshina Onisarutu, warned against discharging waste into  drains.

     

    “Many people erroneously think that once their waste is disposed into the drains that is all. It is not so at all. We must take care of our environment at all times. Whatever we disposed wrongly will always come back to us.”

     

     

  • Lagos to sanction landlords with poor septic tanks

    Lagos to sanction landlords with poor septic tanks

    Lagos State government has vowed to clamp down on owners of buildings with poor or substandard septic tanks, declaring the practice as unhealthy and could lead to outbreak of epidemic.

    The government also warned landlords with multi-room tenement, who have just one toilet for over 60 residents to make amend without further delay, saying it would no longer tolerate such attitude. According to it, such buildings constitute environmental nuisance.

    Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Babatunde Adejare, gave this warning Monday while speaking at the stakeholder’s forum for Sensitization and Public Awareness on Environmental and Health Implications, which took place at the Agege Mini Stadium.

    The Commissioner reiterated that the state government would no longer permit idea of having any landlord making available just a toilet for use of about 60 tenants, saying such idea would no longer be tolerated.

    According to him, the management of 2.1billion litres of waste water generated by over 20 million Lagosians daily, with the attendant health and environmental implication is a task that necessitates the ongoing efforts.

    “The law prescribes punishment for them. Now, KAI, environmental officers will be doing part of it. This is part of what they will be doing. We will come to enforce the law. A lot of things are abnormal in our environment; we won’t allow people to dispose refuse in the drainage.

    “Imagine a landlord of 25 rooms having a single toilet. He makes money from the building but cannot get toilet for the tenants. How much do people build a toilet? Since government doesn’t collect any money from landlords, they should use it to build toilets for their tenants.

    “The idea of tenants queuing before they can use the toilet will no longer be tolerated. Just imagine a 25 room apartment and over 10 people live in each of the rooms. How can they cope with one toilet?” he queried.

    Adejare, who described the theme of the stakeholders forum entitled: “Waste water Management-Perfecting the Natural Practice” as apt, added that people should desist from digging their bore hole and well water close to the septic tank, saying such practice always  lead to epidemics.

    “Your environment determines the kind of the person you are. That’s why the development of a country is measured by how hygienic your environment is,” the commissioner said.

    Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Adeshina Onisarutu, who also spoke at the event, warned against discharging of waste effluents into the drains by some landlords.

    “Many people erroneously think that once their waste is disposed into the drains that is all. It is not so at all, we must take care of our environment at all times. Whatever we disposed wrongly will always come back to us.

    “We have turned our environment, drainage channels to dump sites. Government spends huge resources to treat water that we drink. The lagoon and the sea are filled with dirt disposed by residents. This is not good for us as people,” Onisarutu said.

  • Landlords’ agony

    Landlords’ agony

    Landowners claim that after buying plots, with documentations to show, they still face daunting hurdles in developing them. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports

    Which is easier in the nation’s capital: to rent an apartment or buy land and build? Either way, Abuja residents are finding it very tough, but those who choose to build seem to be gnashing their teeth more.

    Landowners in Dei-Dei community in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) are a case study. Those who bought land there since 1999 said they are finding it difficult developing their land because the past administration of Senator Bala Mohammed frustrated their efforts. They claimed that the plots they bought were revoked and that there were attempts to reallocate them to new developers.

    Chairman of Zaudan Pazeri Property Owners Association, Elder Friday Ugoala said that the land owners were allocated plots in 1998 and 1999 through an ad hoc committee and that they all complied with all the processes and fees demanded by the FCT administration.

    They also said that their plots were again recertified under the Mallam Nasir El-rufai administration and that AGIS acknowledged their documents being in process.

    Ugoala said the authorities denied them Certificate of Occupancy and refused to approve their building plans, a development he said crippled their efforts.

    “What we have been going through is serious emotional trauma which is beyond description,” he said.

    “Imagine allocations that were made since 1998/99 and the government officials sat on them. If there were C of Os and building plans had been approved since then, we would have been living in our respective houses. Can you imagine the cost of rent in Abuja, and since that time till now, you cannot imagine how much we have suffered in the hands of landlords all this while.”

    Ugoala said the victory of President Buhari at the polls is a good omen to oppressed citizens like them because is it known that President Buhari is a man of the masses and his administration is masses-driven.

    “So, seeing that the masses are fighting for a just cause, we have no iota of doubt that this present administration will order a reversal to what was on the ground, concerning Zaudan Pezerri and Phillindabo layouts.

    “We sincerely beg President Buhari to order a reversal to what was on the ground; Zaudan Pazeri and Filindabo layouts have received ministerial approval and they are authentic layouts. All that they required for us to do we complied, we made all the necessary payments, the files, processing fees, and everything, they were computerized and regularized. So, anything on the contrary, means injustice. We are begging the present administration to see to our plight, so that we can develop our plots and have places to call our own. Been tenants here and there are an embarrassment for us,” he said.

    Another affected landowner,  Mrs. Maria Okafor,  a business woman, lamented that she has been going through serious emotional trauma since the issue of the land started with the FCTA,  because she purchased the plot of land with her hard earned money from the business she does.

    “We bought the land with every necessary paper and all the money demanded were paid and they were well documented at AGIS. We are appealing to the incoming Minister to come to our rescue, because we are really suffering. Presently, I can hardly eat or sleep well, because of this land problem with the FCTA. From my age and the way I look presently, you will know that I have been going through serious emotional trauma, as a result of this land matter. President Buhari should come to our rescue,” she said.

    Another affected land owner, Mr. Chioke Ephraim, a lawyer, explained that the affected cut across profession, both rich and poor, also the indigenes of Zaudan, Pazerri, Sabon Gari and Filindabo villages that own farms of cash crops and economic trees.

    “Because when the government considered that they do not have cash to settle them for their cash crops and farm produce that are involved in the layout, they were then compensated with plots according to sizes of their farms and the numbers of cash crops and tress that were involved.

    “I believed that if there an allocation, the position of the law is that before that particular property that is allocated to somebody is taking over from the person. The person that allocated it may have said he wants to withdraw the allocation he made to the occupant, but before he could do that, it must be for public interest.

    “You do not rob Peter to pay Paul. Looking at it, we have found out that allocation that was validly made to our members, more than 1000 people and somebody will just wake up and say he wants to claim the lands; it is not possible. You know that government is a continuous process and it was not Senator Bala Mohammed that made the allocation, but it was done by an FCT Minister then, through the committee set up by him.

    “Even if they want to revoke the allocation, there are procedures to follow, with good reasons why it should be done. But nothing like this has been done and we look at it as injustice and we believed that the court is the last hope to the common man. We believe that this fact, if they are made known to the court as we have made, we will get justice. We also have hoped that President Buhari will come to our rescue and will not allow the masses to by punish unjustly by any administration,” he said.

     

  • Oil producing areas’ landlords to meet Buhari

    Oil producing areas’ landlords to meet Buhari

    Oil Mineral Producing Area Landlords’ Association of Nigeria (OMPALAN) yesterday unfolded its action plans which included a proposed visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on the security and peace in the oil and solid mineral  producing local  communities.

    Unveiling the plans at the association’s general meeting in Abuja, the Board of Trustees National Chairman, Bishop Udo Azogu, recalled that the association had paid a similar visit to former President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.

    He said: “The national caucus intends to pay a courtesy visit to Mr. President. We did so  to the former President Musa  Yar’Adua. We need to brief him since it is a legal organization.”

    He noted that the association will also visit the National Assembly owing to its legislative and oversight functions.

    According to him, OMPALAN will also hold an interactive session with the apex security agencies – the Inspector General of the Police, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff.

    He stressed that by the constitution of the association which the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) endorsed, the non-governmental organization can assist to maintain security.

    Azogu noted that the association will organize national workshops and seminars on core values on oil and solid minerals development.

    He stressed that “let the people, the host communities provide support because the state of restiveness that we witness in most of these communities has retarded progress a lot.

    “And that is why most of our youths don’t have jobs. We need peace in host communities for proper business to go on. Without peace, there can’t be business, there can’t be progress.

    “We need to organize workshops in conjunction with relevant Federal Government agencies .”

    Earlier, Azogu said that “the association believes that communities which produce the resources that drive the nation’s economy must be carried along in the spirit of equity and justice.”

    He recalled that originally the association was established to coordinate oil producing states in the area of peace development, security of oil installations and protection of host communities from environmental challenges.

    The BOT chairman added that “later, the functions of the organizer of the organization were widened to include solid mineral producing states.”

    Demanding an immediate end to gas flaring in the country, he lamented that the toxic cocktail from associated gas flares pose serious health risks to local communities which are located within 30km radius, affecting their livelihood and exposing residents of these communities to a variety of health hazards, resulting in an increased risk of premature deaths.

  • Abia police partner landlords to fight crime

    House owners in Aba, Abia State may yet have the answer to violent crime challenges in the commercial hub as a new group, Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPADA) has been launched at the Aba Sports Club.

    It was an occasion that the state police used to assure Aba residents of their protection from hoodlums and men of the underworld.

    The police aim to liaise with the landlords hoping to obtain useful information from them on their tenants and their dependants.

    In his speech on the occasion, the state Commissioner of Police Mr Habila Joshak said that the birth of this great association is the greatest thing that has happened to Aba residents which he said will help to curb the excesses of armed bandits.

    Habila said that the word protection which is the main focal point in the association that the problematic issue of security in Aba will soon be a thing of the past, stressing that the police will now be more alive to their responsibility as they are now assured of the support of the landlords.

    The CP said, “With the word ‘protection’ in their name as a group of Aba landlords, it means that they are out to cooperate with law enforcement agents in the city to rid Aba of crime and criminality and the security agencies will stop at nothing to give the people of the

    commercial city their best”.

    He said that for crime to be brought down to be barest minimum in Aba, landlords in the city will have to cooperate with all security agencies by giving them useful information that will lead to the arrest of the criminals, police and other arms of security in the state are not spirits, “We work better with information and not through guess work which hamper the progress of work in any security situation”.

    The Commissioner, who was represented by his deputy, DCP Anthony Ogboji said that since the criminals live among the people and the people know them, “If the people who know them cover them, the police will not be able to give the required security to the people”.

    He said that the emphases on the day of the inauguration of the association is on community policing, in which  all stakeholders in security of the place are expected to watch their neighbor and their neighbor will watch them and pass information on those living around, stressing that it is one of the ways for crime rate will be reduced.

    Habila said that he was sure that the association will serve the purpose for which it was being formed based on their name and mission which they have made public and encouraged property owners in the city to identify with the association so that the issue of security will be a thing of the past in the nearest future.

    The CP said, “If you are watching your neighbor and you notice that somebody is doing something against the law, it is your civic responsibility to inform the law enforcement agents to correct that anomaly so that we will sleep with our two eyes closed.

    We all want to create enabling environment for you to move around with ease, do your businesses without any fear and sleep with your two eyes closed while we on our side will try to make sure that peace that has been created is maintained”.

    In his inaugural speech the president-General of the Association, Chief Sir Alphonsus Udeigbo said that the inauguration of the association marks a new stage in the affairs and expectations of Aba residence, particularly, the Land Lords especially where it concerns security.

    Udeigbo said that he is convinced that the type of people who are members of the association will ensure that work will no longer in progress but will be at full throttle work for the benefit of the city and its people at all times.

    He said, “I am convinced that going by the caliber of members of this association, who today have been officially presented to the people, the property owners in Aba and its environs can find a new model of purposeful leadership and accountability.

    We also act as the mouth piece for understanding and love among the landlords in Aba and its environs, thereby fostering unity among the landlords, providing adequate protection for members and their properties”.

    He said that the aims and objectives of the association is to create a forum that will be a rallying point for all the land lords in Aba and its environs, irrespective of tribe, race, ethnicity sex  or any other differences.

    The Chairman of the occasion, former deputy Governor of Abia state, Chief Acho Nwakanma, described Aba as a blessed city and a land of opportunities where people who work hard are always blessed through a dint of their hard work and favour of God.

    Nwakanma said, “When I looked at the name you gave the association, I became so interested because it has to do with the development of the place, protecting one another and I felt that this is the real thing to do as it is what we need”.

    He described the association as the first of its kind, stating that it is something that we really need at his time and thanked those who brought the idea, the organisers and everybody that has been part of it.

    The former deputy governor encouraged members to come together, come out strong, speak with one voice and be bold enough to say what they want because they are part and parcel of the place.

    In his speech, the Chairman, Board of trustees of the Association, Sir Enukeme said that the inauguration marks the dawn of a new beginning as we shall be witnesses to a new identity with the birth of Aba Landlord Protection and Development Association.