Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Chairman Nigeria Institution of Surveyors, NIS, Ogun State chapter, Surv. Abiodun Liadi, has called on the state government to ensure the safety and security of members against activities of land grabbers in the state.
He equally appealed to the police and other law enforcement agencies to treat members as professionals and not like touts whenever they meet them on site.
Liadi, who spoke in an exclusive interview on Friday, urged the Dapo Abiodun led administration to protect the lives of surveyors against land grabbers welding dangerous weapons on site to attack members.
He said that some of these land grabbers were fond of using dangerous weapons including cutlasses, broken bottles, machete, planks, to attack surveyors while performing their duties on site which often results to injuries or deaths.
The chairman disclosed efforts by NIS to ensure that members were recognized by their Identity cards and reflective jackets which he said would soon be launched to safeguard members from life threatening attacks of land grabbers.
He said that such development would allow the police and other law enforcement agencies to differentiate professional surveyors from quacks and save them from unnecessary harassment and arrest by security personnel when land dispute occurs.
Liadi also urged the FG to hasten its ‘mass land titling’ programme with the World Bank which focus is to certify single ownership of land, so as to rid the country of land grabbing activities and protect surveyors from constant attacks of land grabbers.
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He said ” As a surveyors the major challenge that we are facing is the issue of security of our members, your know these days you here of problems land grabbing.”
“It is still important that we live in a secured environment especially in the case of land grabbers. You know we meet the land grabbers on the site and they come with dangerous weapons and the life of a surveyors is at risk in such cases.”
“So we thoroughly need security against land grabbers because the issue of land grabbers has to be completely resolved in the state and I believe that this programme called the ‘ mass land tilling’ will go a long way to go a long way to resolve the issue of land grabbing.”
“This is actually the programe the federal government will start very soon with the support of the world bank, they will want all the land in Nigeria to be tilted. And we we believe surveyors should get seriously involved in such programmes and this is to see private surveyors participating more in government programmes.”