Lagos State Government Goes Tough On Omo-oniles, 21 Years Imprisonment For The Offenders

Lagos state governor, mr Ambode/naij.com

If there was anything that has generated much interests from the Lagosians and other nearby states in the Western Nigeria, it's governor Ambode's moves to curtail the excesses of the land grabbers known locally as the OMO-ONILES.
 The news was all over in the media recently, that the governor of Lagos state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode  who took over the mantle of leadership of the state on the platform of APC is daring the impossible according to some commenters on the development.

 The menaces of the land grabbers has been known to be major reasons why any one who want to buy a landed property in Lagos or other nearby states has to think twice before going ahead with his plans.

The issue was the trending topic in all the media stations ever since it was announced some days ago. See the details here in the PUNCH NEWS. Callers and contributors on various radio stations were asking questions and making comments about the development well into the late nights.

All the radio stations in Lagos state and its environs who opened their phone lines on the topic all got their phones ringing off the hook as people were calling ceaselessly either to verify what they heard or to make their own contributions and share their mixed reactions on the development.

Omo-onile's disturbances/NaijaGist,com

 For a person to buy a land in Lagos and work his ways up to building and parking into his own house as landlord or landlady, one should be ready for series of fees to have that achieved if not, be ready to forefeet  your property with no compensation whatever.

The multiple fees are usually spread in this ways:

1. The price for the property which is the lawful amount of money paid to the sellers of the land

2. The foundation fees which goes to the land grabbers

3. The roofing fees which also is for the land grabbers

4. The parking in fees which the area boys would collect from you for coming to their area

5. The CDC, CDA, and local governments fees for various developmental fees and all the rest fees to be paid all of which runs separately into hundreds of thousands of naira.

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After the initial payments of the agreed amount between a buyer and the seller of any property in Lagos state, the buyer should be ready to have at least close to half a million naira, if not more than to settle every other fees apart from what ever he or she may spend putting up the desired structure of choice. It also means some additional fees if the building is upstairs with decking

In fact it has become a normal thing for the people as the callers to the various radio stations on it are expressing surprises with the news.

Some callers were blunt enough to state categorically that such a move is never going to see the light of the day based how long this has been in the system, insisting that these omo-oniles has no other jobs apart from the continual forceful collections of those fees.

Others are of the opinions that they would be forced into the streets if the law is to be enforced as stated by the state governor, Mr Ambode.

 There are those that are also giving their own opinions why it's not going work because some local governments chairmen have the supports of the Omo-oniles and are usually given some shares of whatever they collect.

The work of land grabbing has been known right from time to be for the touts and irresponsible men and women.

 No serious individual would depend on forcefully collecting money from anybody for buying and developing his properties and so on, besides nothing is ever done with the monies they collect as the only things it's used for are on women and drinks at most.

 When they marry, they marry several wives and end up giving birth to other omo-oniles and the circle continues.

Negotiations with omo-oniles before erecting a building/nigeriannation.com

How is Ambode going to tackle this problem? He is said to be making skills acquisition centers available for them at various areas in the state.

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 Agriculture is another avenue which he is hoping to get these ones into but still, according to one caller in a radio station,

 'How is he going to bend a dried fish, people that has known no other legal means of survival apart from this legalized robbery all in the names of being sons and daughters of the land'.

Re branded Lagos State Agberos/trumpetmediagroup.com

Well let's keep our fingers crossed and see what eventually comes out of this.
 However, the best that could ever come out of this according to some people, is the legalizing of it through the sewing of different uniforms just like the Agberos at the various bus stops in the state did when the immediate past governor of the state, Babatunde Fashiola threatened to flush them out of the roads.

As I could lastly remember before I slept off, a particular caller from a neighboring state, Ogun state to be precise said and I quote her:

 'My name is Folashade and I'm calling from Orimerumu in Ogun state, please governor Ambode, if this your plans works out in Lagos state of all place, please sir, remember us here in Ogun state for we are living at the mercy of theses jobless omo-oniles; call our governor, Tunde Amosu and help him with your strategies for making this wonderful moves possible. May God bless you sir!'