ALMOST ONE YEAR AFTER, LAGOSIANS CELEBRATE THE EXIT OF THE OMO-ONILE DEBACLE.

Before the June 8th, 2016, passage of the bill and the ensuing Governor’s assent that placed a ban on the ban on the activities of squatters and extra-legal land owners known locally as ‘’omo-onile.’’

‘’Omo-Onile’’, a Yoruba coinage meaning ‘’son of the land owner’’ or implicitly as ‘’indigenes’’ is a word every Lagosian that has ever bought a land, built a house or undertaken a major renovation on their properties are very familiar with.

Omo-Oniles in their usual unscrupulous ways, sell a piece of land to many buyers, demand a huge sum of money from a land buyer, get him to pay what they call ‘’foundation money’’ when construction work starts, another huge amount when the roofing is done. Their activities had also resulted in deaths, injuries and trauma to a lot of Lagosians. It was in a bid to curtail these heinous crimes that the Lagos State Government slammed serious judicial pronouncements on any convicted Omo-Onile.

The Law stipulates a 21 years’ imprisonment for anyone convicted of land grabbing. It also forbids anyone to sell a land that is not his as such person is liable to 21 years imprisonment upon conviction. The Kaizen crew went out penultimate Saturday to get reactions of Lagosians on the ban. Our first port of call was the Igbogbo area of Ikorodu which has witnessed many Omo-Onile assaults in the past.

Our first respondent, Ms Ojo recounted amidst tears how the first four plots of land she bought was grabbed by Omo-Oniles. In a sudden emotional twist, Ms Ojo started dancing, singing and heaping praises on the Lagos State Government and the Honorable Members of the House of Assembly who ended the Omo-Onile debacle.

Madu Nduka, an automobile spare parts dealer from Mbaise in Imo State also have harrowing stories of assaults, and land grabbing from the Omo-Oniles. All of our 150 respondents betrayed their emotions as they first cried then, rejoiced before telling sordid tales of their experiences with the Omo-Onile land grabbers.

However, it is not yet Uhuru with the Omo-Oniles as erstwhile Omo-Oniles who became rich and rode to the corridors of power still wields enormous power to infringe on rights and subvert justice as evident in the pockets of Omo-Onile violence in high-brow areas of Lekki and Ajah one in which a brother-in-law to Globacom boss, Mike Adenuga was killed.

This is just one year after the passage of the law. Hopefully, things get better as time goes by.