The Ogun State Police Command has vowed to deal ruthlessly with any of its personnel collaborating with land grabbers, popularly called ‘Omo Onile,’ to deprive residents of the state of their landed property.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, said on Thursday that the force would not spare any of its officers and men found giving security cover to the land grabbers in their nefarious activities in the state.
Iliyasu stated this during a familiarization tour to the Zone 2 of the command in Abeokuta, the state capital.
The police boss stressed that any police man in the state found culpable of the crime would be heavily sanctioned.
Governor Ibikunle Amosun recently signed into law a bill prescribing 25 years imprisonment for involved in land grabbing activities in the state.
But the police commissioner, who said that the major duty of the police was to combat crime and criminality in the state, assured that the police would treat land grabbing as a crime equal to kidnapping, armed robbery and cultism. h
He said, “There is no Society that is crime-free but we are out to tackle each and every crime and criminality. I equate the menace of land grabbing to the issue of kidnapping and armed robbery.
“We are willing to deal ruthlessly with any police man who violate the right of the people . Anyone of us who do such illegal thing will be sanctioned heavily for that.”
While addressing some members of the Police Community Relations Committee, Iliyasu stressed that the police needed the cooperation of the members to fight crime and criminality in the state.
According to him, ” and extra judicial killing as well as kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, land grabbing and any other We are urging you to give maximum cooperation to the police; we are committed to the fight against brutality miscellaneous crimes”
The police commissioner, however, warned criminals to steer clear of the state, saying, “We are ready for a very hot battle with them. They should leave this place because we are going to fight any act of crime and criminality. “
The Chairman of PCRC in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Olaniyan, prayed for God’s protection over police personnel in securing the lives and properties of the residents in the state during the ember months and New Year.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Abeokuta Metro Area Command PCRC, S.K Popoola, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Soji Ganzalo reiterated the importance of the committee to the police force, especially in the area of election monitoring, fencing and renovation of police divisions.
He, however, praised the efforts of the Vigilante Service of Ogun, stressing that the ” VSO has been very wonderful with the synergy that they have with the police in handling security matters “.
