Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has signed into law two executive bills passed by the Imo State House of Assembly.
The bills include: “A bill for a Law to Establish Imo State Security Organisation to assist in maintaining Law and Order in the State and Related Matters therein.
Another is “A Bill for a Law Establishing Imo State Land Administration and Geographic Information Service for the purpose of regulating land administration in Imo State and other related matters therein.”
Assenting to the bills at the Sam Mbakwe Exco Chambers on Tuesday, Governor Uzodimma pointed out that the two laws could not have come at a more auspicious time than now, owing to the security challenges of Imo State and Nigeria presently as characterized by militancy, politically influenced violence, assassinations, attacks on police and police formations, kidnapping and other crimes.
He said that the law would address the aforementioned challenges, which made the government decided to send the all-important Imo Security Organization Bill to the House of Assembly for consideration and passage.
The Governor explained that the objective of the security law “is to assist the law enforcement agencies in the maintenance of law and order and to ensure that the security of lives and property in Imo State is protected.”
“The law will equally assist in preventing unauthorised persons from being in possession of firearms and also collect intelligence that will assist security agencies in Imo State to go into action and do their work better”, the governor noted.
On the land bill, the governor said that the Imo State Land Administration and Geographic Information Service Law is meant to address the hydra-headed petitions and complaints about the illegal land acquisition by the individual and past administration, whose judicial inquiry has snowballed into white paper recommendations and gazettes meant to sanitize land administrations in the State.
The agency established under the law, according to the Governor, “will be in charge of the automation of land and property information in the State with the main objective of identifying land ownership, in providing customer care experience as well as a platform for data aggregation that will enhance smart, effective and efficient governance in land administration.”
In addition to the above, Governor Uzidimma highlighted that the law would ensure a robust policy framework for effective land and property management which would bring about value to the land and property value chain.
“With the signing of the bill into law Imo State will experience a new and improved land administration,” and commended the Speaker and Members of Imo State House of Assembly “for continually rising to the occasion whenever there is need for the two arms to synergise in salvaging Imo from crisis situations,” Uzodimma added.
He advised all those involved in the web of fraudulent land acquisition to expect that the long arm of the law would soon catch up with them with the law in place.
Introducing the bill for assent, the Speaker Imo State House of Assembly, Paul Emeziem, said the Imo State Security Organization is meant to support other such laws in fishing out criminals and assisting security agencies to quell the spate of violence, kidnapping, arm robbery, arson and other vices in Imo State.’
Credit: Nigerian Tribune