Ownership and Acquisition of Land, Land-Grabbers and Land-Grabbing in Lagos and Ogun States

Abstract

Land is an indispensable natural resource for both the survival and prosperity of mankind. The quest for land keeps increasing every day due to human and capital growth globally. Lands are being forcefully acquired by the government from their owners on the pretext of overriding public interest. High demand for land and its insufficiency have resulted in land grabbing in Lagos and Ogun States, in address the menace, both states passed into law, the Lagos State Property Protection Law, 2016, and Ogun State Prohibition of Forcible Occupation of Landed Properties, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping, Cultism and other Anti-Violent and Related Offences Law, 2016, respectively. At the inception of the laws and their implementation, the inhabitants, and land owners of the states thought that succor came their way and it was the end of land grabbing. Conversely, the laws had achieved nothing in eradicating land grabbing in the states. This study investigated ownership and acquisition of land, land grabbers, and land-grabbing in Lagos and Ogun States. Doctrinal methodology was adopted for the research. The paper revealed that the inadequacy of land, greediness of landowners, compulsory/forceful acquisition of land, poverty, and lack of employment among the youths, the law enforcement agents who are saddled with the responsibility of implementing the anti-land-grabbing laws compromised their standards and that the judiciary has not made any clear pronouncements on the land-grabbing cases pending in the law courts of the two states to serve as deterrent resulted in land-grabbing in both states. The study recommended that compensation be paid to the landowners for the land compulsorily/forcefully acquired, employment be provided for the youths, there should be public enlightenment in the states on the implications of land-grabbers and land-grabbing in the society, the judiciary in both states should brace up in dispensing justice in this critical area of endeavour, by decisively and timely, determining land-grabbing cases before them and that the Nigeria Police and other related law enforcement agencies should stop aiding land grabbers in committing crimes related to land-grabbing in both states.

Keywords: Land, land-grabbing, Lagos and Ogun States, ownership and acquisition, Land Use Act

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/135-07

Publication date:August 31^st 2023