Fashola accuses military personnel of land grabbing

LAGOS—Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos
State yesterday accused some military personnel in
the state of acquiring land illegally, saying; “They
acquire land without seeking the government’s
consent.”
Speaking during a courtesy visit by new Chief of
Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, at the State
House, Alausa, Ikeja, Fashola lamented that though
naval officers in the state had not been accused of
land grabbing, but the habit was rampant with
military men who were found erecting military zone
sign posts indiscriminately.
According to him: “The other thing I will like to
bring to your notice is, though I don’t have any
naval experience, but they sometimes cut across
the services. We have some local challenges, as I
said they are not new. This is only a response to
your demands to hold more workshops and
seminars for naval officers in the state.
“Military officers get onto our lands, and place
military zones there; warning people to keep off.
The land that they did not buy from us, lands that
are not allocated to them, put their officers there
and threaten everybody and that is not the way to
go about acquiring land. If anyone wants land,
they have to apply for it; they have to pay for it.
“In as much as military officers have their code of
conducts within their barrack; they are equally
members of our community. And when it is well
with them, it is well with us. We are developing
our water transportation gradually as we are
developing our ferry terminals.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a
connection between us and you. And if anyone
would be knowledgeable on that matter, it must be
the Navy. From my experience on water
transportation, I have discovered that perhaps, it is
easier to build roads than construct safe water
navigational area. But these are areas where
clearly we could have improved partnership in the
areas of dredging, maintenance, etc.
Earlier, Jibrin however said “We are hoping that
next year when the country will be going to the
polls, the state government will further collaborate
with the Nigerian Navy to transport the electoral
materials to the riverine areas in the state.
The Vice-Admiral assured that the Nigerian Navy
would support the state in its internal security
operations, adding “We need the state and the
state needs us as well.”