The activities of landgrabbers (ajagungbale) have become a recurring decimal and thorn in the flesh of residents, landlords and dealers in Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State. Taiwo Alimi investigates incursion into lands in Ofiran and adjoining communities.
They come with a mission: to maim, destroy and kill. And their weapon and strength is in number. They come in multiples of threes and fours -on several motorcycles brandishing threatening armaments of war; amulets, machetes, clubs and sometimes guns. Welcome to the world of land-grabbers otherwise known as Ajagungbale in local parlance.
Their grand mission is to forcefully take over landed properties or make landlords and artisans pay excessive fees on renovated or developing buildings.
Prior to 2016, the activities of land grabbers were rampant followed by a period of relative calm and peace after Lagos State government under Governor Akinwumi Ambode passed into law on August 15, 2016, the ‘Properties Protection Law.’
The 15-sections law prohibits forceful entry and illegal occupation of landed properties, violent and fraudulent conducts in relation to landed properties in Lagos State and for connected purposes, save would-be property owners and investors from being harassed and exploited by landgrabbers. The main objective of the law is to ensure that investors, businessmen, and the general populace carry on their legitimate land/property transactions without hindrance or intimidation.
With the passage of the law a Special Anti-land Grabbing Task force was born and this was followed by fervent execution leading to the arrest and prosecution of feared landgrabbers’ kingpins and their thugs.
Of note was the arraignment of Ikorodu ‘chief’ land grabber, Kamorudeen Lamina. On June 15, 2017, Lamina, popularly known as Sir K, was arraigned alongside six others on a six-count charge of alleged forceful dispossession of residents of their legitimate rights to land ownership before a Special Offences Court sitting in Oshodi.
Months earlier, on November 2016, another top dog Mutairu Owoeye and his son, Ganiyu Owoeye (aka Garba) were arraigned for alleged related offences with several suspected thugs were also picked up and charged to court.
Owoeye is alleged to be the tormentor-in-chief in the Ajah/Ibeju Lekki axis and his arrest brought a sense of relief to landowners, speculators, dealers and buyers in the fast growing environment.
“We thought that was the end of landgrabbers in our community,” says Comrade Agogo James, chairman of Ofiran Community Development Association (CDA) under Ibeju Lekki Local Government (LG) areas.
This peace and tranquility lasted for a short time as landgrabbers are back. 
Recent happenings in the area show that the dreaded group is back in town, more vicious and crafty in modus operandi.
Their nefarious presence is mostly felt in the Ibeju Lekki area where their gangsters’ style of operation is negatively affecting landowners, landlords, artisans and genuine property dealers.
Some of the affected communities are Ofiran, Alakun, Aiyeteju, Onipanu, Elepete, Gbarada, Igando Orudu, Magbon Segun, Baba Adisa and others. Combined together they have over 30 CDAs all under Ibeju Lekki LG. These communities occupy a sizable portion of Ibeju Lekki, home to Lekki Free Trade Zone and Lekki and Epe. Ibeju Lekki is the most sought after Lagos community by property investors due to its rapid development and proposed multimillion dollars projects; the Dangote Refinery, $450million Lekki International Airport and the 4th Mainland Bridge.
The attraction is high making dealers, house owners, builders and artisans to flock there in their hundreds for business and daily bread.
Sadly the land is no longer at peace due to the menace of landgrabbers.
“For about six months now, they (landgrabbers) have been coming to our community to wreak havoc,” adds James, who has been living in Lagos for 40 years and Ofiran for 10 years. “They don’t come empty handed. They come with charms, machetes, and sometimes with gun. They come in groups on motorcycles. Sometimes they would be three on a motorcycle and the bikes would be up to 10. That is close to 30 thugs and it’s easy to spot them because they drive recklessly without consideration for other road users. Whenever they come children and adults will scamper to safety. School proprietors will have to be on standby in order to guide their wards to safety. Parents also rush to schools to pick their children out of fear. We are living in palpable fear, fear of the unknown. We are always on edge. So, the community is not at peace. We need government help.”
Builder Oluwasogo Ola (not his real name), and image maker of One with God CDA, Ofiran, encounters them daily due to his line of work. “No one can wait for them. You dare not. Even if you have a high fence they would scale it. Nothing stops them. They don’t listen to or reason with anyone. Once they get to site, they would just attack: beating and maiming.”
As for artisan Mohammed Kehinde (not his real name), the land grabbers have denied him and his mates their livelihood. “They usually come by 10am and take over the community rendering all of us jobless that day. They don’t spare even landlords living in their homes. Whenever there is a little thing to fix on the house, they would come and begin to harass workers and landlords demanding for thousands of naira. The harassment and molestation is too much. Some landlords fearing for their lives have packed out. Our children could not go to school and workers are been denied daily bread.”
Landlady Elizabeth Oluwakoya (not her real name) says they live in panic. “The general feeling here is that of fear. We live in perpetual fear and courage mixed together. Many landlords have left the area; those who are building have abandoned their work. We are not sleeping in our houses out of fear. Peace has eluded us because they are constantly threatening us. They are after us. We sleep with one eye close and the other open.”
Living in fear
School proprietor in Ofiran community, Oropo Kehinde highlights the economic effect of land grabbers. “They are terrorising our people and I want the Lagos State government to know that there is a chain reaction to their activity. We have bricklayers, painters, plumbers, iron benders and other artisans here. The moment landgrabbers come they cannot work and cannot earn. I am a school owner and I can’t run it well because people are been chased away. Their activity is chasing away prospective land buyers and it is not helping the community.”
Property owner Laide Fadipe (not her real name), recounts how she was told to pay N3million for a property she bought for N1.5million five years ago before she could continue work on a housing project. “They are not afraid of anyone and their demands are outrageous. I have to stop work because I don’t know where I will get that kind of money to pay them.”
Buttressing Fadipe’s claim, James says old landlords are not immune to their exorbitant charges. “Just to change common tiles in your kitchen, they would demand for N150, 000, tiles of N30, 000! For a plot of land that we bought for N150, 000 ten years ago, they are asking us to pay ratification of N5million and N3million. Is that not outrageous?”
Geoscientist Taye Akewusola laments the encroachment of landgrabbers on his property at Alakun three months ago. “I had an agreement with a family in 2008 and the Lagos State government granted us 50 acres excision in the community in 2014. I spent over N30million to acquire the excision and I own seven acres of the land. A plot of land which was sold for N150, 000 that time, has now risen to N2m. There was no way I could recoup the millions I invested in getting the excision if I had sold my interest at that time.”
He says his perimeter fence was broken down and the land was forcefully seized and sold to unsuspecting members of the public.
To show their grievances, the community has held several peaceful protests to the Ibeju Lekki LG secretariat. “At one time the women in the community held a protest and the acting chairman, Jelil Odofin, said he would call the land grabbers for peace. But as I am talking to you we have not seen his intervention in any way,” notes Fadipe.
In fact, the last protest they held landed Ofiran community in hot water.
CDA chairman James recounts: “On June 12, 2019, we held a peaceful rally in our community to make government know what we are going through. We had written petition to Area J and Elemoro Police Stations, in Ibeju Lekki LG before that. The following day scores of landgrabbers forcefully entered the community and while they were trying to pack workers’ tools, a woman who rents out tools challenged them and she was beaten up. This led to a free for all as the women defended themselves and threw bottles at them. In the process one of them was badly injured.
“On June 17, four days after, the CDA leader was invited to Elemoro Police Station while at midnight seven others, including a woman were taken away from their respective homes. I personally spent 20 days in custody while others spent between 15 and 18 days before our bails were taken by the community.”
Some of the affected landlords are Olayemi John, Wahab Lekan, and Luqmon Usman.
The origin of the problem is traced to the land tussle between the original landowners and the returning Baale of Oruju Suraju Olukayode Bello. Bello is challenging the ownership of Oruju land insisting that it belongs to his father and allegedly enlisted ajagungbale (landgrabber) to forcefully claim the land.
When he was contacted, Baale Bello speaking through one of his aides Segun, did not contest the land tussle but insisted that the so called ‘landgrabbers’ are his kinsmen ready to claim back what rightfully belongs to them.
“I am not aware that landgrabbers are in the community. All I know is that my kinsmen have been going around ensuring that we get back what rightfully belongs to us.”
Further investigation unearths a brawl that goes back in time. Chief Fatai Agbaje, a prominent land owner and secretary of Ibeju Lekki Elders Forum traced the land tussle to 2006.
“Our first contact with the Oruju family was on November 29, 2006. They came and said the land belongs to their parents and we said we don’t know them. A year later, they petitioned Police Zone 2 Onikan that we have guns and when the matter was investigated the Police said we should go.
In 2008, the matter was referred to the Lagos State Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and an ad-hoc committee chaired by HRM Oba L .O Ogunbekun, Onilekki of Lekki was set up to look into it and proffer lasting solution. Other members of the fact finding committee are Chief S.O. Amusa, Baale of Okunraiye, Chief M. Dauda, Baale Magbon Segun, Mr. S.B Tope Saidi, Assistant Director in the Ministry and Mr. Toyin Abass, Chieftaincy Recorder Lekki Local Council Development area.
On July 30, 2008, the ad-hoc committee delivered their report and resolve to the effect that Chief Bello is suspended as the Baale of Igando Orudu with immediate effect and for Orudu family to leave the village for peace to reign.
The report titled; Report on the Ad-hoc Committee set up by the Ibeju Lekki Chieftaincy Committee on the Baaleship Chieftaincy Dispute in Igando-Orudu reads in part: the members of the Chieftaincy committee therefore resolves:
*That Chief Surajudeen Olukayode Bello hereby withdrawn as the Baale of Igando-Orudu with immediate effect.
*That Orudu Royal family should vacate Igando-Orudu and let peace reign.
The report further reveals that The Orudu family is originally from Epe and they engaged the services of Mutairu Owoeye, a landgrabber in the community while Chief Fatai Agbaje remains bonafide Baale of Igando-Orudu.
The land tussle did not end there.
Seven years after this landmark judgement, to be precise on March 10, 2015, the Baale Bello led Oruju family staged a comeback to Ibeju Lekki and in tow, the landgrabbers. They began with the annexation of Baba Adisa Community by forcefully ejecting bonafide owners selling off the land.
“Two months later they crossed the road to Ofiran and began to sell lands there too,” adds Agbaje.
The land grabbers’ second coming meant chaos, destruction of properties, maiming and death and outcry from the community dwellers. It attracted the Lagos State government which swung into action and the birth of ‘Properties Protection Law’ and the Special Anti-land Grabbing Task force and subsequent arrest and arraignment of popular landgrabbers including Owoeye, his son and collaborators in 2016.
Again, Baale Bello and the landgrabbers beat a retreat, but not for long. Unlike the previous time, they simply waited for the state government to change before returning – recharged and back to Ibeju Lekki. This time around they employed a mix of their old tactics and new ones.
Using force as modus operandi
Investigation by The Nation reveals that the modus operandi of landgrabbers has not changed much but has undergone sharp modification.
While they still use intimidation and force, they also have powerful principals, supportive traditional rulers and the judiciary.
While their principal, the kingpins are not seen, the foot soldiers often drop their names as a way to intimidate their oppressed. The kingpins have a lot of money to throw around and they are ready to part with quality cash to get their way.
“They would be telling us that they are the government of the day and that before we put together our N100, they have millions of naira to spend.”
Fast rides and group-movement are other means of intimidation which they use to the optimum to multiply fears and break down opponents. They usually come at dawn when artisans are set to work and they have informants, even among the artisans who sometimes rap out their colleagues or when landowners or property owners are on site.
The new twist here was buttressed by artisan Kehinde, “Some landlords now work at midnight with generator light because in day time they dare not work for fear of landgrabbers, but the landgrabbers have also designed new methods to stop midnight work as they often come to site at midnight. It means we have informants among us.”
Land grabbers do not just invade a community unless they are invited. They work upon request. Thos who invite them could be an Oba, (paramount ruler) a disgruntled Baale (traditional chief), or distraught land owner (Omo Onile) who may feel cheated out of a family land deal. They take particular advantage on disputed lands.
Recruitment of foot soldiers
Foot soldiers are recruited from all over the Southwest community. While Lagos has a large pool of miscreants and paid thugs, kingpin also go as far as Ibadan, Ondo, Ilaje, and Ekiti to recruit foot soldiers and they are assembled in a camp provided by their patron and usually close to the disputed land.
“In-fact most of their recruits are not from Lagos State, they are people from Ekiti, Ondo, Ilaje, Ibadan, and so on and so forth. When they get to their community they would camp in a place prepared for them by their host and from there come in groups to site,” notes James.
Their contacts in the Police, LG and judiciary cannot be underrated.
“Even the local government could not do anything for us. We have people in the LG and they have tried pushing our case. We are made to understand that we are dealing with powerful people. We are tired. The people we expect to help us in the LG were not forthcoming too,” adds James.
Land grabbers as negotiators
As scary as the activities of the land grabbers are, they are open to negotiations with landlords who are ready to meet their usually huge demand. Some landlords seeing themselves between the hard place and the sea have resorted to negotiation to keep their property. This was verified by Ola who said, “Out of fear some landlords have gone cap in hand to negotiate with them and pay them for them to complete their housing project. Such payments usually run into millions of naira. It’s like buying the land afresh and at prevalent market rate.”
It is a condition that many landowners cannot meet. “That is why we are calling on Lagos State government to help us. We are helpless and calling on the authority to help us,” James concludes.
The Public Relations Officer (P.R.O), Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Kayode Oyekanmi, while confirming a petition from the Ofiran Community to their office, he noted that they did not finish what is required for the government to step into their case.
“It is true that in May 2019, we got a petition from that community. After that we asked them to come back in a week with some documents but they have not come back since then. That is the due process because we expect them to submit certain documents and a list was given them. As I speak with you they have not come back. In fact, we have been calling the contact numbers on their petition and it is not operational. We need documents to work with and no document is attached to their petition.”
On the ensuing disturbances and fracas emanating from illegal operations of land grabbers, Oyekanmi said they can only work on reported cases. “It is not feasible for us to know about all land fracases in Lagos. We rely on such communities to come out, file petition and do follow up. That is the only way we can help them.”
Equally Mrs. Bukola Bakare, image maker of the Lagos State Special Anti-land Grabbing Task force informs that a petition was also submitted on May 2, 2019. “It was acknowledged by our office and a file was opened for them with number 3301. But as I speak with you we have not heard from them. Once they come in with the required documents, and the Attorney General authorizes us, we shall definitely step into the case.”
