Oyo to revoke lands without proper documents

Oyo State Government has called on residents of the state to ensure that they update their land documents so as not to fall victims to land revocation or property demolition.

The Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, while on a duty tour of the various sites owned by the state government in Ibadan, the state capital, said the present administration had picked interest in the issue of lands across the state for proper documentation and accessibility.

He said: “This is the right time for the good people of Oyo State to know that things should be done in the proper manner. Anyone that does not have up-to-date documents should do so because the ministry would be paying unscheduled visits to various sites to check if such sites have genuine approval.

“If there is any infraction whatsoever from anyone on the sites visited, the person would face the full wrath of the law as the present administration is not out to witch hunt anybody, but to enforce law and order and to ensure that proper approval is given before construction on sites is carried out.”

The commissioner, who was in company with the permanent secretary and some directors of the ministry, also served a stop-work notice on the contractors handling the construction of some houses at Mami Market Agodi, GRA and a water corporation building at Jericho, a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun, said.

He asked the contractors to report at the ministry with necessary documents for the construction of the site.

The team also visited the industrial park as well as free trade zone along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to assess the lands in the area.

Meanwhile, in its bid to bring succour to both working and retired citizens of Oyo State, the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration has distributed cheques for the payment of gratuities.

The Commissioner for Establishments and Training, Olasunkanmi Olaleye, disclosed that the governor had released over N180million for the payment of the 2012 outstanding, and part of 2013 gratuity allowance for the retirees of the respective years in the state’s civil service.

Olaleye stated that the Governor Seyi Makinde led Administration had doubled the amount earmarked monthly for the payment of gratuity in order to clear the back log arrears and make it as the landmark of payment of gratuity to workers as they retires.