LAGOS-Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has said plans were on to make any landlord whose tenant was found guilty of any criminal act in the state to forfeit his property to the state government.

Fashola made the remarks yesterday at the 5th Town Hall meeting on security, organised by Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF, on Victoria Island.

He said: "The state can no longer condone any criminal act and that is why we decided to review our security strategy.

"One of the decisions that we have taken to further nip in the bud criminal cases is that we will fence the entire community more because criminals live among us.

"Every one of us must take the responsibility of exposing criminals living within our community; that is why we have resolved that in any home we find criminals or is used as hideout for criminals in the state, we will consider and justify revoking the title to that property and acquire it for public use.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/nov/23/322.html

Is Lagos state turning into a Nanny state?

wait a second, let me get this straight: if i have a home, and rent it to a family, and the guy seemingly goes to work every morning, but it turns out he was going to different cyber cafes to do yahoo yahoo. . . . . . . i will lose my house when he get caught?! this law makes no sense at all!!!! now landlords have to also turn DETECTIVES and snoop around their tenants lives?!

the gov should confiscate the properties of the criminals, nobody else!

MRbrownJAY:

wait a second, let me get this straight: if i have a home, and rent it to a family, and the guy seemingly goes to work every morning, but it turns out he was going to different cyber cafes to do yahoo yahoo. . . . . . . i will lose my house when he get caught?! this law makes no sense at all!!!! now landlords have to also turn DETECTIVES and snoop around their tenants lives?!

the gov should confiscate the properties of the criminals, nobody else!

Seems like a crazy law - or could it be pandering to the populists

Start with Tinubu who has soaked dry the coffers of Lagos State, then go to banana island and seize their homes one by one.

Rule of law in Nigeria only applies to poor people. Sooo sad.

If that is the case, then the Lagos State Government should seize the properties of the Lagos State Government, because the Lagos State Government has been housing the criminal Tinubu, ever since the ascension of Fashola as the leader of the Lagos State Government.

It is a good law. He is not talking about petty crimes like shoplifting. . . . he is talkig about heavy crimes such as robbery, abduction, serial rape, scams. It is the responsibility of the landlord to check ad vouch the character of the tenants. A landlord should not rent home to a criminal that is risk to other tenats and commuity. This law sends a message to the ladlords. The root of the problem is deeper than what you guys see.

There are landlords that are refusing to rent home to worthy applicants, instead they rent to people of dubious background who readily can afford the jacked up rent. They never bother to ask where the guy get the money to afford his lifestyle. Honest and moral characters are homeless and criminals are sheltered. Thats a wrong way for any community to live. I like the law ad you should too, unless you support renting apartment to a armed robber while a person with honest income is living uder the bridge or squatting with friends.

Negro_Ntns:

It is a good law.  He is not talking about petty crimes like shoplifting. . . . he is talkig about heavy crimes such as robbery, abduction, serial violation, scams.   It is the responsibility of the landlord to check ad vouch the character of the tenants.  A landlord should not rent home to a criminal that is risk to other tenats and commuity.  This law sends a message to the ladlords.  The root of the problem is deeper than what you guys see.

What the heck kind of thinking is this??
You suggest that it makes sense to take away a Landlord's property if he is not able to check his tenants EVERY MOVES. In What world?


aaarrrggghhhh!!!! You folks give one headaches with the gobble-de-gook you spew so often on here.

@negro_ntns
kidnappers do their crimes, and meet their accomplices, WELL AWAY from the home they share with their wife and kids, so how would a landlord know? arm robbers rarely attack banks and homes where they live, so how would a landlord know?

yes many good people cant afford to rent a house but should LANDLORD be blamed/punished for that fact? also, havent you heard of people with CLEAN and PERFECT record who suddenly embezzled money because of whatever reason.

also, a criminal does a crime, he goes to jail and pay for his crime, should he automatically be castigated because he did wrong in the past? this law sounds absurd!

IF the government truly believe that this law is the way forward then they should ALSO confiscate the homes of the gov looters/thieves who dont pay rent but instead BUY homes with the proceed of their crimes.

Negro_Ntns:

It is a good law. He is not talking about petty crimes like shoplifting. . . . he is talkig about heavy crimes such as robbery, abduction, serial violation, scams. It is the responsibility of the landlord to check ad vouch the character of the tenants. A landlord should not rent home to a criminal that is risk to other tenats and commuity. This law sends a message to the ladlords. The root of the problem is deeper than what you guys see.

Very silly comments

what if the suppose armed robber tenant claims to be a  Bank Manager - how do i verify this - Is their a verification system  in place .   Even in more sane societies such laws would never be proposed talkless of it been debated debated

What percentage of landlords actually live with their tenants. If a landlord lives at VI will he be culpable (lose property) in Ikorodu?

I notice that in NL when one person lead an attack, a host of timid voices suddenly find the courage to come out and join suit with the attack. 

Kobo, I need your response to my whole comment, not portion of it.  If I answer you it will address a line of others that I predict will soon join in to attack me. 

Mr Brown,

I agree, crime is crime, whether at the low level or high level of society.  Law can be used to correct a behavioral trend or to incent one.  This law is intended to correct the behavior of landlords, not the criminal.  Apartment prices will adjust to the market rate if the index driving it is tagged to verifiable source of income.  So people with verifiable income can afford homes at a rate that is in scale with their lifestyle.  The crime of violation has nothing to do with income but if a despoiler live in an apartment building he becomes a terror because he can use violence as well to get what he wants.   We eed to clean our communities.  Apartment in Nigeria is not like apartment abroad.  An apartment dweller in Europe or America has no obligation or sense of idetity with other dwellers. In Nigeria cohabitation promotes sense of identity and true communal support.  The moral code and protocol that balances that sense of belonging must be promoted.  A criminal has already violated the code ad protocol and has  no place i it, in fact he is a threat to the safety. The landlord owes his tenants the duty of sustainig that balance.  This law changes the landlord's vision i that regard.

When he signed the Tenancy Bill into law without making requisite investment in affordable housing, I thought he was a bit cuckoo, but with this new proposal, it is now official: Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, is clinically insane.

How anyone can sleep and dream up this kind of law is beyond me. Sieze property belonging to the perpetrator, yes, that I understand, especially if you can prove that the property was acquired with the proceeds of that crime.

I now firmly oppose Fashola.

This is nonsense! What gives him that right?

I can see how this law can be abused. Politicians will enrich themselves.

Saint Fashola doesn't seem like a saint anymore.

I don't get this, from a SAN?
Anyway, there's no need to rationalise this thinking. Firstly, what is his definition of a crime? Is he simply talking of blue collar crime or also white collar crime. It cannot just be 'blue collar'. What happens to a Landlord (living in his property) who commits a crime of embezzlement of public funds? If this proposed law is to be followed to the letter couldn't we also start with the governor himself? Afterall allegations were made against him in the house but he used some legal loophole to quash it. He should have allowed investigation into the matter. What also happens to the Speaker of the House? He's currently facing the EFCC. What happens to bribe collecting Lagos State Officials?

I have always said it, Fashola's govt is an elitist one. Look at the tenancy bill. It excluded VI & Ikoyi, where they themselves own properties. Can Fashola honestly tell himself that Tinubu is not a criminal? Oh well, i guess he's more interested in the poor guy who commits crime not the big corrupt officials who are responsible for more ills in the society. Is it not the activities of these big crooks that have somewhat led to these poor guys committing crimes in the first place.

Rubbish!!!!

The intention is right, but this particular approach is a bad "blunt instrument".

I hope Fashola and his advisers think this through before making any such laws. Otherwise, they will lose in a court challenge with eggs all over their faces.

What they ought to do is require landlords to submit information on their tenants - into a database identifying where they work and certified or cross-checked with the employer. What a tenant does in addition to his day-job is not under the control of the landlord.

Count this as one in which Fashola and his advisers need to go back to the drawing board.

EzeUche:

This is nonsense! What gives him that right?

I can see how this law can be abused. Politicians will enrich themselves.

Saint Fashola doesn't seem like a saint anymore.

How is dis going to stop crime? This policy will create more criminals. People commit crime becos of lack and unfavourable economic climate.

Fashola was a much better Gov in the first term, really don't know were he got this idea from or wat exactly is the catch.(All politicians are potential Bigots until proven not)

Igbo's lets watch out for our properties.

Negro_Ntns:

Kobo, I need your response to my whole comment, not portion of it.  If I answer you it will address a line of others that I predict will soon join in to attack me. 

1) Um . . . I did NOT attack you but the reasoning you suggested was valid. Again, I ask, in what world does what you presented there make any sense?

2) There is not much else to your post as after the first paragraph, as paragraph two failed to bolster the claim you made in one.

They've run out of properties to grab so they had to come up with this

Some people have like 10 houses in Lagos, how are they supposed to know the daily activities of their tenants. And if you have an apartment building, how are you supposed to know what your tenants are up to?

How true is this news anyway?

This sounds fishy. Is fashola losing his mind to some stone age advisers? I bet he is trying to borrow a leaf from british tory govt that proposed that those involved in recent london riot living in council houses may have to lose their homes. They didnt mean private houses but GOVERNMENT allocated houses if i may remind him.

He does not have the right to take private property from an individual. Even if they committed a crime. If someone paid for that property, then it belongs to them and Fashola would have no right to take it away from them or their family.

well, he does have his points, there needs to be due diligence

apparently at one point in time, th place whee i live was a clearing house for stolen vehicles

back in the 80s

the thieves would bring the cars in , spray them and then take them out

the lackadasical attitude of landlords means that you get all sorts of characters as neighbors

there are some lasu cult boys in my neighbourhood for instance

people living next door to them have heard them gisting about r-aping girls, stealing money from people, etc. there was once during fuel scarcity when someone snuck into my house and stole a keg of petrol.

there is also a clear and present danger - they say armed robber no be spirit - landlords have to look beyond rent - all sorts of rubbish in my close because rent is the number 1

you have some people turning the close to car dealer location and everywhere is jampacked

i understand where fashola is going , though it needs to be fine tuned

Sounds out of context.

The quote, in the link, appears to imply that the properties of criminals would be seized.

He shouldn't toy with landlords' properties.

If I was a bad tenant I could just decide to rubbish my landlord out of spite and use such a law to make sure my landlord never charges rent. I stop paying rent and laugh at him, saying "oya, report me and lose".

I want to make certain that I understand what you are saying here . . . .

oyb:

well, he does have his points, there needs to be due diligence

apparently at one point in time, th place whee i live was a clearing house for stolen vehicles

back in the 80s

the thieves would bring the cars in , spray them and then take them out

So, it was the responsibility of Landlords to get police checks on every car before they are driven into the compound(I am guessing you believe this should be easily obtainable information too)?

oyb:

the lackadasical attitude of landlords means that you get all sorts of characters as neighbors

there are some lasu cult boys in my neighbourhood for instance

people living next door to them have heard them gisting about r-aping girls, stealing money from people, etc. there was once during fuel scarcity when someone snuck into my house and stole  a keg of petrol.

So, other tenants HEARD of these plots and so the LANDLORD, who likely never knew of the plots(as many of them don't even reside on many of their rented properties), out to be penalized for inaction on the the part of those who heard, and failed to call attention to the situation?

oyb:

there is also a clear and present danger - they say armed robber no be spirit - landlords have to look beyond rent - all sorts of rubbish in my close because rent is the number 1

you have some people turning the close to car dealer location and everywhere is jampacked

i understand where fashola is going , though it needs to be fine tuned

So, apart from having Government INVADE our privacy every now and then, what we want is to empower landlords, to also do same? Essentially have Landlords, feel free to raid our homes and cars whenever they feel to, in their bid to ensure that we are clean as long as we are on their property? What else, Landlords get access to our bank accounts and question us on every large deposits made, run background checks on our friends and family or anyone who shows up at the door?

I am lost on the usefulness of this really, so how exactly will an exercise in "fine tuning" this improve on the absurdity of it.

^

. . .

Kobojunkie:

I want to make certain that I understand what you are saying here . . . .

So, it was the responsibility of Landlords to get police checks on every car before they are driven into the compound(I am guessing you believe this should be easily obtainable information too)?


So, other tenants HEARD of these plots and so the LANDLORD, who likely never knew of the plots(as many of them don't even reside on many of their rented properties), out to be penalized for inaction on the the part of those who heard, and failed to call attention to the situation?

So, apart from having Government INVADE our privacy every now and then, what we want is to empower landlords, to also do same? Essentially have Landlords, feel free to raid our homes and cars whenever they feel to, in their bid to ensure that we are clean as long as we are on their property? What else, Landlords get access to our bank accounts and question us on every large deposits made, run background checks on our friends and family or anyone who shows up at the door?

I am lost on the usefulness of this really, so how exactly will an exercise in "fine tuning" this improve on the absurdity of it.

in nigeria, 90% of the time, landlords are only concerned with the money from tenants.

no background checks, no nada.

just take the money upfront, and it doesn't matter if it is lawrence anini he is renting to.

lets look at it like this; would you rent a flat to a fellow who did not appear to have any livelihood?

too many landlords do just that, and the fact that they take 2 yrs upfront means that what happens is not their business after that .

would't you find it disturbing if your new next door neighbour turns out to be a cult member?

forget about reporting to police - yes, he's arrested then out of jail two days later, and you have an enemy in your neighbourhood.

i have shared my close with all sorts of characters that i know the landlords would not share their own houses with

there was this fellow who was stealing bits and pieces from people's cars. he was never caught, but after he passed on unexpectedly, the theft stopped

you may not also realise that all these neighbourhood raids by robbers usually have connivance of someone in the neighbourhood

all this privacy is well and good in a place where things work - but this is nigeria

the other day during a close meeting, we had to contemplate a house to house search - someone in the neighbourhood has industrial machinery in his house that keeps causing power failures. it has caused all sorts of inconveniece to evryone else - and whoever it is , the person will not stop. what do you do in a case like that?

this is a country where you find that your neighbours are drug pushers, or yahoo yahoo boys.

there was a time i was receiving threatening calls from some opportunistic extortionist - who knew my name and profession. and my mind immediately went to the cult boys

its ember months now and everyday, there are reports of armed robberies in closes

i'm sure you read about chxtas ordeal and how robbers came to his neighbourhood and opened fire on the landlord for calling the police. we are assuming police tipped off the robbers, but it could just as well have been a neighbour.

IF YOU ARE A LANDLORD , CONSIDER IT AS A RESPONSIBILITY TO GET AS MUCH INFO ON YOUR PROSPECTIVE TENANTS AS YOU CAN.

Fashola has been smoking Tinubu's do.pe on the sly
Instead of imploring police authorities to move their men away from the N20 toll points, get them involved in more undercover assignments and combat crime from the grassroots he's out there chatting sh.it

The governor said it would take ownership of building owned by criminals and not the building rented by a criminal.

Its now obvious Fashola is going loco

this is [i]stu[/i]pid. almost unreal

High_Chief:

Its now obvious Fashola is going loco