OutLawed CDA: Land Developers Still Harassed, Pay Levies To Communities In Edo.
The groups, made up of
mostly young men, control the lands in their communities with disregard to
extant laws. They formed ‘Community Militias’, and administer over lands which
ought to be a major role of their village Heads who perform such function on
behalf of the Government.
These dreaded
individuals terrified their community heads and inhabitants. They intimidate, threatened,
and cajoled people to part with illegal levies at every stage of work on their
buildings, as well as scaring away investors in the property sector whose
investment would have create jobs and develop the state.
Also, people stopped building
houses, Indigenes outside the state could not come home to develop their lands
because their properties have been sold by these groups to somebody else.
Communities were polarized, indigenes went against constituted authorities.
This resulted in crisis (some still lingering) that lead to destruction of lives and properties.
In a bid to end their
reign and deal ruthlessly with these land grabbers, the Oba of Benin, His Royal
Majesty Oba Ewuare II in his coronation speech, condenmed the bloodbath in
communities, with a vow to move for a law that will stop their activities in
the state.
HRM Oba Ewuare II
however kicked start the process by banning the group’s activities in the seven
local government areas in his monarchy, namely Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba Okha, Ovia
South-West, Ovia North-East, Orhionmwon and Uhunmwode Local Government Areas,
which was swiftly supported by the state government with an enactment of a law
cited as Edo State Private Properties Protection (PPP) Law.
The Law which prohibits
forceful and illegal occupation of landed properties, violent and fraudulent
conduct in relation to landed properties, also proscribe the collection of land
based community development levies by any group or groups in the entire state.
Governor Obaseki who described
the law as historic during a meeting with the Oba, where he had gone to present
a copy of the law to him in his palace, was commended alongside the state House
of Assembly for the speedy passage of the Bill into law by the revered Benin
monarch.
“Today is historical and
I am overwhelmed. I was really upset with the activities of CDAs in the state.
I saw the need to tackle the issue of CDAs as their actions became destructive.
The governor bought in the idea and decided to draft a bill to criminalise
their activities. I want to commend him for this step as many people expressed
doubts about his willingness to work with the palace, but he has dispelled such
fears”, the Monarch said during the meeting.
In line with Section 12
of the PPP Law, that states, “there shall be established a Task Force Unit to
be set-up by the Governor of the state which shall be responsible for the
enforcement of the provisions of this law”, Governor Obaseki inaugurated a Task
Force on Private Property Protection and appointed former Inspector General of
Police, Solomon Arase, as chairman.
The governor explained
during the inauguration that the task force will apart from enforcing the PPP
law, ensure compliance with the provisions of the law, monitor the group’s
activities, prohibit them from selling lands or collect any related
levies and as well help apprehend any person or group of persons found violating the law.
The move was a relief and ushered in a sigh of hope for land developers cum investors.
However, barely a year
after the PPP Law came into effect in the state, indications that emerged from
investigations shows, there have been continued harassment, intimidation and
forceful collection of land dues by community youths notwithstanding the law banning such activities, and the existence of the PPP Task Force.
In 2018, the
outlaws continued their operation in Azagba community in Uhunmwonde Local
Government Area of the state, as some members of the proscribed group stormed a building site in the community with
machetes and guns, beating up the
workers.
Same year, Leaders of Uselu
N’Ahor raised alarm over the continuous activities of members of the proscribe
CDAs in their village in defiance of the law abolishing them.
Only recently, the
traditional ruler of a village in Ikpoba Okha was allegedly kidnapped by
unknown gunmen, days after his palace was attacked by some youths. And upon his
freedom from captivity, the traditional ruler linked the attack and his
subsequent abduction to his refusal to allow some of his subjects to continue
with the outlawed activities.
In Iguomo for instance, like
other communities that have resorted to self-help, in the development of their
area since the ban on the collection of ‘deve’
(development levies), the youths and elders of the village are factionalized
due to ‘power tussle’ over who controls the village land.
According to a Pastor and
indigene of Iguomo, a village which is in more than 3 decades old boundary
dispute with Ikhuen-Obo village, “we the indigenes thought the coming of the
PPP Task Force will see to our differences and unite us, and also enforce the
Supreme Court judgment on our land dispute with Ikhuen-Obo. Without this, the
crisis may record more loss of innocent lives in future as it has recorded in
the past.”
Furthermore, different
account by land developers in the state, 2-years after the criminalization of
all forms of CDA activities, however indicts some top government functionaries,
security agents, Ohens (Chief Priests), Enigies (Dukes), Odionwere (Eldest in
the community), who are supposed to be the hears and eyes and ears of
Government at the grassroots of complicity with the outlaws.
In the guise of Emolu, (an Edo custom of informing the
inhabitants of a community that one is coming to join them as landlord by
providing refreshments like food and drinks) community leaders extort developers, a system described
as “Refined” by a senior colleague from the then usual way of demanding for
levy in relation to land.
It was also gathered
that, some land developers willingly support communities with cash, grading of
earth roads, electricity poles, and sometimes transformers to fast-track its
development.
The investigations,
conducted across the Senatorial Districts, to assess level of compliance with
the Anti CDA Law, local government areas in Edo South, notably Uhonmwode,
followed by Ikpoba Okha, are most notorious with the continued activities of
these individuals.
Some community youths and elders act in defiance to the
royal directive of the Benin Monarch.
It further revealed
that, the activities of these ‘Land Lords’ and their sponsors are common in
villages connecting motorable roads and access to electricity, especially
villages along the Benin By-Pass and environs, apparently due to nearness to
the power plant at Ihovbor.
They see the
availability of these infrastructure as what would bring them huge fortunes
from the land dealings in the area, thereby undermining the PPP Law cum the
powers of the Task Force to put their activities in check.
It was also gathered that, some ‘wealthy’ individuals who
had bought large expanse of these village lands pay these outlaws to protect
the properties from encroachers, pending when they are ready to develop same.
This sometime resulted to exchange of gun fire between rival groups in these
villages which usually snowball into cult related killings in the state.
Communities in Edo North
and Central chose to provide lands to developers and would be investors at
little cost. The youths are not restive, as they would prefer to act according
to their age grade functions geared towards developing their communities and
respect for constituted authorities.
However, property
developers have argued that, they are yet to have confidence in the PPP Task
Force to forward their complaints to as they feel it only protect those
building estates and other industries in these communities.
“CDA activities has come to stay in Edo, unless the
government create job opportunities in communities to dissuade the youths from
such criminal activities”, said, a former school teacher who explained how she
was intimidated to pay an undisclosed fee before starting work on her landed
property in a community at Oredo in February this year.
Meanwhile, since it
inauguration, the Task Force have arrested some individuals in the state for
allegedly contravening the property law, arraigned, though no conviction yet, as
enshrined in Section 13 Subsection 1 of the law, that states, “the power to
arrest any person alleged to have committed any offence under this law shall be
vested in the Task Force Unit established in pursuant to this law and any other
law enforcement unit/Agency in the state”.
Contraveners of the law,
on conviction are liable to imprisonment for as high as 10-years or a fine of
One Million Naira (N1,000,000:00) or both such fine and imprisonment.
The Task Force may have
ended the bloodshed, but not intimidation, collection of land related levies,
and communal disputes that arises due to vested interest in the criminal
dealings, even as victims awaits the Committee to act decisively interdem with
the Law to prosecute “Criminal Landlords” parading themselves as community
leaders.
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