• 40 PDP candidates declare support for suspension of chairman, deputy
• CHSR tasks Sanwo-Olu, relevant authorities on rising cases of land grabbing
The Lagos State House of Assembly has reportedly commended the Inspector-General of Police and other members of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for excellent performance during the conduct of the 2023 general elections in the state, which ensured that the polls were hitch-free and devoid of violence.
According to the police spokesman, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, the lawmakers in a letter dated April 4, 2023 and signed by the Clerk of the House, extolled the display of professionalism and neutrality by the Force, leading to the actualisation of an election adjudged to be the fairest and freest in the annals of Nigeria’s democracy.
He said: “The Inspector-General of Police, while acknowledging the correspondence from the State House of Assembly, appreciated its members and other well-meaning Nigerians for their display of patriotism during and after the polls, and reiterated the commitment of the Force to pursue exceptional policies and actions necessary for community-oriented and technological-driven policing services to members of the Nigerian society.”
Meanwhile, candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Lagos State House of Assembly election have declared their support for the ratification of the suspension of the party’s state Chairman, Philips Aivoji and his deputy, Tai Benedict.
Aivoji and Benedict were suspended by their ward executives on April 14, 2023 over alleged gross violation of the party’s constitution.
In a statement, yesterday, signed by 40 candidates of the party for the polls and shared by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, the candidates noted that there was a need for total cleansing of the party.
In another development, the civil society stakeholders, under the platform of Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights (CHSR), have called on Lagos State Government and relevant authorities to respond swiftly in curbing nefarious activities of land grabbers in the state.
President of the group, Alex Omotehinse, who made the appeal during a media briefing, yesterday, on unlawful activities of land grabbers, terrorising Ojomu communities (Ajiran land) in Eti-Osa Local Council, said that land grabbers’ activities had undermined the spirit and letters of the Lagos State Property Protection Law, which prohibits forceful and illegal occupation of land legitimately acquired by citizens.
Omotehinse, who rued the gruesome murder of one Sheriff Salami on April 18, 2023, as fallout of the deceased’s opposition to activities of land grabbers in the community, expressed worry that land grabbers are becoming more entrenched than hitherto imagined, in spite of a task force set up to nip the menace in the bud.
