Above The Law

They roam free and unchecked, sometimes wielding dangerous weapons. They make their own rules  which they enforce by violence, extorting outrageous sums from hapless Nigerians who dare to acquire land, or have their own roofs over their own heads. They go under names like omoonile (land owners), Ajagungbale (land-snatching warriors). Sometimes, they work in collusion with unscrupulous land agents to give their activities a semblance of legality.  DEBO OLADIMEJI examines this menace vis-a-vis the Land Use Act, especially in Lagos and Ogun states.

AT last Mr. and Mrs Jejelaye had got money together for the roofing of their humble bungalow—a one bedroom flat just taking shape somewhere in Ibafo. To cut costs, their three boys and a girl were made to join them and a few hired workers for the work of the day.

However, no sooner had they begun work when a troop of youths besieged the site.  Before the couple knew what was happening, the youths had swooped on the workmen, wrested tools from them forcing them to stop work.

“How dare you,” screamed Beriberi (decapitator) their leader, a be-whiskered fellow with blood-shot eyes, “begin roofing your house without the permission of omoonile?”

Mr. Jejelaye was aghast.

“Permission?”

“Yes. Permission.” Red eyes shot back, as he spat barely missing one of the Jejelaye boys who promptly jumped out of the way, ”Nobody roofs his house here without paying N50,000 to omoonile.”

“We paid N100,000 before starting the foundation!” Mrs. Jejelaye, cut in, overcoming her initial fright.

The response was a chorus of guttural voices, “That was foundation. This is roofing.”

“In fact, you were lucky,” Beriberi added, “foundation is now N150,000. Very soon, roofing will be N100,000. Pay up now or nobody works here today.”

“Pay you again before I roof a house I have been struggling all these years to bui—”

“Hee! Karimu, eyin boys pack their tools, ” Beriberi ordered. “Alakowe si nfoyinbo lowo (he’s wasting time speaking big English). Outnumbered and outpowered, Mr. and Mrs Jejelaye could only glare as Karimu and the boys, tough-looking characters spotting various battle scars, packed their tools.

The family dream of having a house of their own had just been dashed.

The building remains uncompleted till date. It is now overgrown with weeds and crumbling. There are worse scenarios.

In 1990 Mr. Toyin Tijani bought a plot of land in Alagbado at N50,000  he put up a Boys Quarter on the land in 2000. It was completed and her relatives moved in 2001.Earlier this year he wanted to continue with building the main house. The omoonile said he must pay N200,000 for ratification on the land. With bottles and cutlass they threatened the people not to continue with the work on their land.

“I am not going to pay anything again. I will rather not build my house again,” he said in frustration. Unless the government wade and come out with a clear stand on the omoonile crisis there are many people like Tijani whose dreams of owing their own houses has turned sour due to the omoonile palaver

Five years after completing and packing into their new house, the Salami family woke one day to find notices plastered all over their walls. It is titled “Ratification”. According to the notice they must pay a sum of N200,000 as ratification fee to a particular agent if they wish to continue occupying their house. The story was told later  that another family had emerged from the blues to claim equal ownership of all the lands sold long ago by two families. Now, to settle the dispute all buyers of land must pay fresh sums…. But the story is a lie, according to those with ears to the ground, to continuously fleece house owners, having got no more lands to sell.

And the notice is issued and signed by a land agent employed by the family

One of such victims of omoonile palaver is Lawson Damilola Ademeso who bought land and having to pay money for the foundation and decking of his house and he is thinking of how to get money for paying omoonile for roofing.

“The law is that when you sell your land, you cannot trouble the buyer. If you do so police would arrest you. You bought your land from the omoonile but when you want to do the foundation they will ask you to pay extra money. Foundation money here is N150,000,  for decking it is N200,000. You pay nothing less than N150,000 to do roofing, depending on the location of your house. If you don’t pay there will be trouble, your workers can be attacked,” he frowned.

He regretted that people must pay the extra charges before the commencement of building their houses. “You have to pay stage by stage. It is negotiable. It will be receipted,” he said.

According to him the people who are at the helms of affairs, have no problem building their houses. Before they start building they surrounded their land with security men.   “Nobody can harass them or extort money from them. The government knows that the money the omoonile are collecting is illegal but they are not ready to do anything about it,” he said.

He explained that in some cases the omoonile will allow Mr. A to sell the land, after a while they will conspire together and say the land belongs to Mr. B. Then they will take Mr. A to court and the case will drag on and on.

He also blamed the government for the high cost of building materials.

“A bag of cement was sold for N150.00 in 1987. A bag of cement was sold for N2, 300 before the government intervened and the price dropped to N1,950. The government extorts people in this country not omoonile alone,” he said.

The government he recalled had increased the minimum wage to N18, 500, which he said is a far cry to what is needed to keep body and soul together. “When is an average earning person going to own a house? But government can do something to help the masses in the hands of shylock landowners,” Ademeso said.

Another victim of the omoonile, Oriyomi Olaniyan 40, regretted that he bought land for his brother, Joseph Oke in Ayetoro-Itele, Ogun State at N130,000 (for two plots) more than a decade ago.  Unfortunately after building on it up to the decking level, the omoonile problem started. “We bought the land from late Akapo family of the former Baale(traditional ruler) of Ayetoro- Itele in Ado- Odo, Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

“The present Baale from Odutala’s family in Ayetoro-Budo has taken over our property and has sold it to another person. Because the land of Ayetoro is in dispute between the Odutala and Akapo family. Odutala is selling those property without the consent of the buyers,” he regretted.

Olaniyan said that although the case is now in court the Odutala family is still selling the disputed land together with peoples’ houses on it. “A plot of land is being sold for N1.5 million. The land has been sold without my brothers’ consent and without regard of the fact that the case is in court. The house is located at Yusuf Ibadan Street. And it is a boundary between Lagos and Ogun State,” he said.

Reacting to the allegation, Chief Paul Abiodun Odutala, Baale Ayetoro-Budo  (an Egba man), stressed that since 1836, the Egbas had suzerainty over the land with document to back it up.

Odutala pointed out that Akapo came from Ayetoro-Itele to Ayetoro-Budo in 1978 and he was selling the land in Ayetoro-Budo to people.

“They will come from Ayetoro-Itele, three kilometres away to sell land in Ayetoro-Budo.At that time they were buying the land and doing foundation at night,” he said.

The Baale agreed that the case is still in Ilaro High Court. But why are they ejecting people of the land they bought from Akapo family?

“We are re-selling the land because it is our land. In year 2005, we went to court to get judgment that allowed us to take possession of the land. Again, the other party took us to court and the judge held that buying and selling of land should stop by all the parties. But while we obeyed, the other party continued to sell the land. Are we going to be looking at them? We asked the people who bought their land from the Akapo family to come for ratification but they refused. That was why we ejected them from our land,” he said

He added that it is better to buy land from omoonile because agents do not have land. “It is the omoonile that gives the power of attorney to agents. From here to Ayetoro-Itele is Egba land. If you want to buy land buy from the right people,” the Baale warned.

Professor Sophie Oluwole, a stakeholder, said   the government in the South-west should do something about the omoonile trouble, since it is most rampant there —- especially in Lagos and Ogun states where, according to her the land situation is most chaotic.

The problem, according to her, is that the payment for the omoonile is endless. “You have to pay for decking, roofing, plastering.Then somebody will come and say that the cost of the land you have bought has increased. For God’s sake, is there anywhere else they do that type of thing in the world? Somebody will come and say I was not around when you bought the land, pay me my own share.”

She opined that the duty of the government is to arrest the law breaker. “Now the omoonile is breaking the law, by collecting foundation money from the people they sold their land to and the government is saying they don’t support what the omoonile are doing but the government is not doing anything to stop the illegality,  Whenever one takes omoonile to court nothing comes out of it. The buyer and the seller usually have no locus standi,” she said.

She is worried that it has reached a stage where one cannot even pass over landed property to his children, the omoonile will say that he or she should come and pay again.

She recounted that part of the wall around her house once collapsed. But when she attempted to rebuild the wall, the omoonile insisted that she paid before reconstruction. “Now, I hear people now have to pay the omoonile to fix their doors and things like that,” she said.

Oluwole argued that once a land has been bought, one should be able to do any legitimate business on it.

She pointed out with hindsight that it is better to deal with the omoonile than dealing with their agents.  “When the omoonile brings in Ajagungbale (agent), you are in trouble. The agent then has the power of attorney to sell the land for the omoonile,” she said.

She stressed that it is only the government that can find the solution to the problem of omoonile.

“I bought my land 18 years ago. A fellow who was six years old at the time now comes to me saying his brother did not give him his own share of the money. I can’t understand whether he wanted to take his own share in the womb,” she queried.

Professor Oluwole, explained that the problem people are facing with buying land has to do with the nature of Land Use Act in Nigeria.

“In 1978 when the Land Use Act was promulgated, it was illegal to sell or buy land. So where does omoonile come in? Both the buyer and the seller are doing illegal thing, because, according to the Land Use Act, selling of land should be the business of the government. The High Court always backdate the law (to 1978 before the Land Use Act was promulgated) to allow omoonile to sell land or people to buy from omoonile,” she noted.

She is worried that the government has been directing people to buy land from omoonile. Even Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo who was the Head of State when the Land Use Act was promulgated bought his land from omoonile—-meaning that government recognizes that the omoonile can sell the land. “That means the government is contradicting itself,” she said.

Oluwole said that if the government knows that the Land Use Acts is not working they should come out with a workable law.

“ When the government took over the land, they are depriving the people the means of their livelihood. What would the government replace the land with? When you take all the land in Ibafo, where will the people farm to produce their cassava or yam? That is the problem. Most of the omoonile in Ibafo has no other source of income. Their land has been bought over. Some of them sold the land, shared the money and returned to poverty,” she said.

Oluwole said that the Land Use Act both de facto (as it is) and de juris (as it is being practiced) should be examined.

However, Alhaji Mutairu Owoeye Chairman Owoeye and Company and the Chairman Association of Land and Estate Owners, Lagos and Ogun defended the activities of land agents. According to him, it is safer to buy land from the agents to avoid the problem of omoonile.

“As an estate agent, if we are not sure of the ownership of the land, we don’t sell. We find out from omoonile whether the case is in court or not before we take possession of the land. Our land is safe, that is why we always sell land that are not in dispute,” he said.

He agreed too that omoonile can be cunning: “It is common among omoonile to sell the same land to two people, but once an agent is selling the same land to two people his business is in danger.”

Owoeye then explained the reasons for ratification.

He pointed out that the land may be under acquisition by the government, but some fake omoonile will still go ahead to encroach on the land by selling it to people. “Those people who bought the land from the fake omoonile will have to pay for ratification to renew their agreements, whenever the government returned the land to the genuine omoonile,” he said.

The payment for foundation (for the commencement of construction work on ones site) is rooted in Yoruba tradition, Owoeye said: “It used to be in form of wine and other things to show appreciation in the olden days to the land owners. Once you bought the land from us, you pay for security (to protect your properties), foundation and you pay for job card (services to be rendered). Once you pay that you don’t pay again,” he said.

According to Taiwo .O. Taiwo of Taiwo. O and Co. Legal Practitioners, the Land Use Act still exists, though made by military, by virtue of section 315(5) of the 1999 Constitution. “The land use act is an existing law. It has not been repealed. It is legal to sell land in accordance with the provisions of the act which vests land in the governor of the state, who must give his consent to all transactions on land,” he said.

Taiwo disclosed that there is no law for or against the issue of omoonile, especially as regards the collection of any form of money. “It is the tradition and also an unwritten law or convention between the buyer and the sellers usually from the landowning family. If you buy from land given to the omoonile by the government, you are likely to pay to the omoonile from stage to stage,” he said.

However, he disclosed that if one buys from the government or from someone with registered title there  is not likely to be any problem. “In the South west, families sell land but some people who disguise as omoonile are not usually omoonile but only area boys who want to arm-twist uninformed buyers, who are willing to pay or don’t know their rights,” he said.

He urged the public to report the collection of illegal fees to the Police. He advised that people must consult a lawyer who will conduct the necessary research and do proper documentation before buying any piece of land.

Omoonile, he corroborated are not entitled to any money for renewal of any land that has been bought unless the transaction is a lease rather than outright purchase. “The environment, demand and supply and other issues are responsible for the cost of land. The way forward is strict compliance with the law. However, no legislation can tell people how much to sell their land. I am honestly of the view that the Land Use Act should be repealed,” he said.

Mrs. S.O. Alade Lambo, Assistant Director, Lagos State Land Bureau, Alausa, Ikeja urged the public to take formal approach to verify the status of any landed property before consummating the transaction. “They should obtain land information certificate from office of the surveyor general and ensure proper validation of title from the land registry.”

The assistant director warned members of public of the acts of individuals, families and communities who engage in illegal sale of government land.

According to Lambo, those that have issues with land speculators have to get their lawyers to take care of it. If it is not a government land, the case, she reasoned is between the buyer and the omoonile. It is only the law court that can adjudicate on the right owners.

“If it is a private land, the person with the C of O has the right of title. But if there is a man with a superior title that person owns the land,” she said.

She added that it is illegal for the omoonile to be collecting money for foundation, roofing, and things like that.

Alhaji Abiodun Busari, Director Bureau of Lands and Survey, Abeokuta, Ogun State on his own part, condemned the sharp practices of some omoonile as unjustified and the law enforcement agents should rise to the challenge.  “So that once a land has been sold legally to one person, no omoonile dare go back to resell the land,” he said.

He described the additional money the omoonile are collecting for foundation, roofing from people as illegal.

“If you have sold a piece of land to somebody, the essence is for the person to develop it. If you are now putting obstacles on the way for the person to build, it is not right. Professionally speaking, it is not right. You are not really rendering any service. It is a discouragement to would-be developer. The people and the government should frown at it,” he maintained

Busari said that with correct documentation, the court should be able to stop people from counter-claiming the same piece of land.

“The relevant government agencies on land administration should be contacted by the law enforcement agents to ascertain the rightful owners of any disputed land,” he advised.

The court, he said, reserves the right to determine the person with the superior proof of title on any land in dispute.

“Whoever the court says has a right of title will be given C of O by the government,” he said.

He reminisced that the Land Use Act of 1978 has provided that government must put in place land use and allocation committee to advice government on the administration of land within the jurisdiction of the state government.

The act, he said, provides that the Bureau of Land and Survey can play a role in adjudicating on any land dispute that may be brought to its attention.

“Once there is a land dispute, the committee comes into play, invites the disputant parties, listen to their complaints, and adjudicates on them. If the parties are not satisfied, they will be advised to seek redress in the High Court that has jurisdiction in the matter.

“We do experience land disputes occasionally. We told them that once any of the parties goes to court, further processing of their application in the ministry ceases, until after the final application is determined by the court before we can proceed further,” he said.

According to him, the problem of the land speculators is not common in Ogun State. “Only  those areas that border Lagos State are sometimes hit. It may be a spillover of what is happening in Lagos. But generally, in Ogun State, we don’t have much problem,” he said.

He urged the people planning to buy land to ensure that there is no Caveat Emptor’ (buyer be aware) on the land. “Do thorough investigation in order to be sure of who has a superior title,” he said.

Busari insisted that, once a land has been sold, the seller doesn’t have any authority over the land again. It is only when it is a leasehold that the time of ownership can expire. “It depends on the contractual agreements between the owner of the land and the buyer.”

He also called on the government to reform the Land Use Act promulgated in 1978.

Hakeem Muri-Okunola Permanent Secretary, Land Bureau, Lagos State, also warned members of the public buying government land not to pay any gratification or make any unofficial payment (outside stipulated fees and charges that would be backed up by the government official receipt) to government officials or any person posing as agent or any other person.

“Government fees are published and no official is allowed to negotiate any rates payable or discount same,” he said.

He said that complaints of delay in processing applications or extortion of money should also be reported immediately to any of the Heads of Directorates in the Bureau between 10.00am and 4 p.m daily, by dropping such complaints or petitions in the Complaints Box placed on each floor of the Administrative Office of Lands Bureau Block 13, the Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

oyb:

for where

gang violation and videotape
infant trafficking
armed robbery
kidnapping
fake drugs

exported all over nigeria

its a wonder these dolts can muster up the nerve to point - they must be posting from outside the SE.

Omooba77:

During Marwa time in Lagos all these were curtailed. But when Tinubu came the wahala started in full force. BRF will not hurt a fly and the game continue unabated. This extended to Ogun. Building a house in Lagos and Ogun is like 5times the real cost because of this menace.

kodewrita:

its the same in the south east.

The Ikwerre youth are masters at collecting taxes at every stage of development. Its the same in other areas in the south east.

So stop yarning crap.

Relax101:

I didnt know the ikwerre people are now Igbos?

nku5:

Will all u tribalists shut up for once! Damn! I feel the real issue at hand is the land use act that obj introduced. I read somewhere in that article that a resident of ibafon complained that the problem started when the people lost control of their land to the government and as a result, they lost their farmland. When ppl in a rural area lose farmland what do u expect to happen. They see settlers buying land from the govt (land that used to be theirs) and feel cheated. Mind you that doesn't excuse the fact that the lazy ones and touts in those communities have seen it as their own resource control. The truth is that the land use act is a problem

kodewrita:

  I said south east not igbo.  southwest does not mean yoruba.

stagger:

This one na small thing. At least u only pay for foundation and roof. In Ikwerreland, you pay the following:

1) Bush entry
2) Foundation
3) Goat (you must pay the money o, which is usually higher than the cost of a goat)
4) Then you settle the family heads and boys with "drink money"

Then during the work proper, different boys will come with different fees. Then roofing.

By the time you are through, N1m has been paid out as sundry fees.

Even to rent house, you must pay drink money (aside from rent and agency fees). Because of all this, I have resolved not to build anywhere else but my home state. I can use the money collected as rent to pay for my accommodation, rather than enrich these riff-raffs.

Though I am told that if you go to the Chief in that area, you will end up paying less.

Demdem:

I concur. I am a living testimony. I strongly belive its a national problem that needs to be dispensed with fast.

afam4eva:

Yes, it's a national problem but it's more prevalent in Lagos, Ogun and other south-west states.

Demdem:

National problem is national problem. Please don't tribalise this issue again. Fine, more people are affected there becos more people also live there and the press seems to be focussed there.

I said south east not igbo.  southwest does not mean yoruba.

sheyguy:

Xcept 4 some part of the north there is no place in nigeria without its own equivalent of the omo-onile worst of all is the south east where they dont sell land to certain outsiders. the south-westerners do it but in my knowledge its not like this article portrays.

sheyguy:

Xcept 4 some part of the north there is no place in nigeria without its own equivalent of the omo-onile worst of all is the south east where they dont sell land to certain outsiders. the south-westerners do it but in my knowledge its not like this article portrays.

mikeywise:


YOU ARE GRADUALLY CARVING A NICHE FOR YOURSELF, WELDONE. SOON U WILL SURPASS RHINO AS NUMBER ONE BIGOT IN NAIRALAND.KEEP IT UP