ESEWEZIE INAUGURATES OSHIMILI NORTH LAND SURVEILLANCE COMMITTEE, VOWS TO END LAND GRABBING

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The Chairman of Oshimili North Local Government, Hon Innocent Esewezie, on Tuesday, at Akwukwu-Igbo, inaugurated the Council’s Land Surveillance Committee, in keeping with his promise to check land grabbing in the Local Government Area.

The Committee is structured into Central Management Team headed by the Council Chairman, with the Divisional Police Officers and some selected individuals as members, and the decentralized Committee to take charge of the Ibusa, Okpanam, Ugbolu/Illah and Akwukwu-Igbo/Atuma/Ukala/Ebu axes, with the Heads of the Community Security Corps as Chairmen and Heads of Anti-Cult Volunteer Corps as alternate Chairmen.

At the ceremony, which attracted traditional rulers and Heads of security agencies in the LGA, Hon Esewezie said the setting up of the Committee was long over due in view of the serious problems land grabbing and illegal sales of land had caused in communities in the area, especially Okpanam and Ibusa.

He noted that Oshimili North was blessed with vast land resources waiting to be harnessed for the benefit of the people, but regretted that due to over dependence on federal allocation, successive administrations of the Council did not deem it necessary to look in that direction.

This, according to him, had led to land developers and speculators taking advantage and indeed making so much progress with the proceeds of land to the detriment of the owners, insisting that the development was unacceptable and the time had come to stop it.

The Council Chairman said some of the land developers had turned themselves to cartels, with some local youths as recruits for their nefarious and unwholesome land deals, pointing out that most of the security issues emanating from different communities had all been traced to the land grabbers who used developers as cover-up.

Hon Esewezie stated that the surveillance committee had become imperative to ensure that people did not resort to self-help in solving their problems, just as he revealed that his administration had resolved to put strategies in place for genuine investors and land developers to operate without hitches.

These include the establishment of a Land Developers’ Management Committee that would liaise with the appropriate government authorities and regulators to promote a lawful land tenure regime, a commitment to the registration of all land developers with the Council for the purposes of ensuring strict compliance with laid down laws, regulations, municipal master plans, and for the purposes of proper documentation by the appropriate bodies.

He added that the Council would also protect the interests of families in the local communities by ensuring that all land transactions were properly supervised by the appropriate principal family members and committees, reduce and streamline the indiscriminate collection of levies and rates from unauthorized persons from potential land developers.

The steps, he said, would engendercordial relations between the Council and land developers by creating a forum for periodic meetings between developers and land management committee where issues would be tabled and discussed with the objective of providing a risk mitigation and veritable dispute resolution environment to promote enterprise growth in the Local Government Area.

“All above highlighted proactive measures shall be sent to the Legislative Arm as an Executive Bill to enable them embed it in our by-laws. It is our hope that these measures are surest ways we can stabilize the land business as well as regulate its activities. We, as a government cannot by ourselves be able to spotlight all the speculators in every community as well as our brothers who collude with them hence, the need to establish this land surveillance committee.

“To this end, your mandate as members of land surveillance committee is to focus your eagle eyes on perceived land developers and people working with them. You are to monitor them and report any sinister or suspicious movements to appropriate authorities. We must realize that land developing business is one of the fastest growing businesses globally and the yields are rising by the day; as such, we must take these duties with all the seriousness they deserve for the good of our people and posterity.

“Let me also add that the Council will ensure that these Committees are well funded for effective service delivery”, Hon Esewezie said.

In their separate remarks, the Area Commander, Asaba, DCP Sunday Oladipo; DPO Akwukwu-Igbo, CSP Henry Ekeocha; DPO Ibusa, SP Chidi Obioji; DPO Okpanam, CSP Samuel Iyohana; DPO Illah, CSP Nathaniel Omosigho; Head of Operations, Operation Delta Hawk, Major  Sheriff Bolade; among others, pledged support for the Land Surveillance Committee and advised the members to operate within the ambit of the law to avoid unpleasant consequences.

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