Oyo signs new anti-land seizure bill into law
Oyo State government has signed a new anti-land grabbing bill into law, prescribing 15 year jail term or fine for offenders.
The bill is one of the provisions of the new Real Properties Protection Law, 2016, which has now been signed into law by the Executive Council Chambers in Ibadan, the state capital.
The law titled, “A law to protect the rights of property owners and prohibit forceful entry, illegal occupation, violent and fraudulent conducts, in relation to real properties in Oyo state, and for purposes connected therewith.”
It prescribes a 10 year jail term or a fine of 500,000 Naira upon conviction for illegal entry into any construction site.
Under the new law, any professional who is in the conduct of his duties facilitates a contractual agreement between a land owning family and any other person, knowing that such agreement will contravene the provisions of the new law is also liable to imprisonment for three years, a fine of 500,000 Naira or both.
Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi said with the new law, it will not be business as usual, “where there is no law, there is no offence, but now we have a law in place”.
Ajimobi said: “The law was meant to protect the rights of property owners and to stop the nefarious activities of land merchants who willfully and violently seize people’s land. (Text courtesy of Channels TV)
