At first, it sounded like sweet music to his ears when informed about the availability of what he deemed an affordable piece of land in the Ofada area of Ogun State. Being slammed with a minimum of 100 per cent annual rent increase by his landlord, Ahmed Adeyinka had flirted with the idea of owning his own home to break loose from the choking stranglehold of landlords, who arbitrarily raise annual rents.
But the chilling stories of how his friends and relatives lost plots and acres of land to land grabbers soon poured cold water on his excitement over the information about an affordable piece of land as he was admonished he would need more than the money he would pay to acquire a piece of land to keep it. According to him, he was advised to erect a fence round the land he intends to purchase and start the foundation work of his house to discourage land grabbers from making him lose the land and his money.
The additional cost of warding off land grabbers, he said, halted his journey to own a home as he could not imagine losing his money and land because he doesn’t have the financial muscle to, without delay, erect a fence and start the foundation work as advised. “You see, there’s no year my landlord doesn’t increase rent. I’m not talking about a 20 or 40 per cent hike.
The minimum so far is 80 per cent. I looked at the whole situation and I told myself that I might get to a point where I would no longer be able to pay my house rent. I concluded that I would need to build my own house. I do not have the resources to build a house now but I know I can start small and gradually finish it. But I was told it’s one thing to buy land and it’s another thing to secure it. I was told I needed to fence my land and start the foundation to secure it.
Fencing a piece of land doesn’t come cheap and starting the foundation work of the building too. You have Omo Onile (land grabbers) to contend with as you do the two. They will definitely hit you with bills. I wanted something I could do gradually at my own pace. But because I wasn’t prepared for the additional cost of fencing and foundation to deter Omo Onile from stealing my land, I could not buy the land I intended to acquire. I could easily lose my land and hard-earned money.
It’s not that it’s totally safe when you fence it and start the foundation work but the risk of losing it to land grabbers is lower. That’s what I’ve found out.” For decades, the activities of land grabbers have come under scrutiny following allegations of violent takeovers and fraudulent sales. In Ogun State, the cries of citizens who have not only suffered intimidation but have become victims of illegal acquisition, Sunday Telegraph observes, have reached a disturbing decibel.
From Obafemi Owode to Abeokuta, Ifo to Ota and other parts of the state, the media is replete with reports of the activities of land grabbers leaving their victims with tales of sorrow and tears. Backed by the Prohibition of Forcible Occupation of Landed Properties and Other Related Offences Law of 2016, also known as the Anti-Land Grabbing Law, which makes it a criminal offence to forcibly occupy land, sell the same plot to multiple buyers, or use threats to dispossess lawful landowners, the Ogun State Government had inaugurated the Special Land Task Force in 2023 to address a problem that had festered for decades.
According to the Special Adviser/Director General, Bureau of Lands and Survey, Segun Fowora, the task force was set up to reduce the activities of land grabbers to the barest minimum and protect investors as well as maintain law and order. Meanwhile, not a few residents lament the unwholesome activities of land grabbers as they tell horrific tales of barefaced impunity.
Alake staved Baale’s extortion bid
Sometimes, they either grab and resell the land or resort to extortion from landlords who are developing the land purchased from them. Sunday Telegraph learnt that some old students of Auchi Poly bought two acres of land at Shimawa area of Ogun State about a decade ago, but lost the entire twelve plots to Omoonile, before the old students could commence development.
Sharing another dimension to the issue, Kola Ayedun stated how two plots of land owned by the Catholic Church were almost lost in the Maba/Shimawa area until the intervention of some influential members of the church. Ayedun said: “We, the Catholic Church, bought two plots of land in the area. Suddenly, we almost lost possession of our land to them.”
“When wanted to develop the land, we were asked to pay N300,000 to the Baale in Council, which we did, and upon commencement of development one of the chiefs made a N500,000 demand. All pleas to him fell on deaf ears until we reached out to higher authorities in the church. The Alake of Egbaland got informed about our situation by the Catholic leadership in the state. That was when the solution came. Alake spoke with the Baale who feared he could be dethroned. He quickly allowed us to continue with the development of the property.”
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