ALWAYS KEEP YOUR LAND DOCUMENTS SAFE
What if the Omo-oniles really stole your land and sold it to someone who has already started building on it?What can you do to show that you own it? What if you are already a victim of Omo-onile and you have already been cheated out of the land you saved millions of Naira to buy, or if you just found out that your land has been sold to two or more people, or if the documents you have about the land’s title have been found to be fake or forged, or if you left your land alone after you bought it, and when you went back to clear the grass, you saw that someone else had already started farming there? How do you fix this problem right away and beat these shady criminals at their own game?
In short, you’ve all either heard these kinds of stories firsthand or from a family member, friend, or coworker. Most of the people in these stories have either given up or left the land, losing the millions they spent on it, and have moved on quietly to count their losses and lose faith in buying land.
Well, it shouldn’t always be like this, so I’ll give you some personal examples to help you understand some of the legal options you have when things like this happen. Now, I have to tell you that most of these solutions have only worked 85% of the time. Some people end up in bad situations, but this is just a guide to help you avoid that. If it’s already happening to you, follow some of these steps, and God willing, your land or something better will come back to you.
FROM OUR MAIL BOX QUESTION:
I just bought some land a while ago. Six months later, I got a call saying that someone had encroached on it, and that person was claiming full ownership of the land that I legally bought from an AJAMGBADI family member at LANGBASA in IBEJU LEKKI Local Government, who told me that it was his family’s land and had never been sold.
The other party that has now moved onto my land is telling me that another family, represented by one AJANAKU of the AGBALAGBI CHIEFTAINCY family in the same LANGBASA in IBEJU LEKKI Local Government, is claiming to be the family head and has previously sold the same land to him 9 months ago. He then went to the UK to raise money for his foundation.
WHAT DO I DO NOW THAT THE TRESSPASSER IS BACK TO CLAIM FULL OWNERSHIP OF THE LAND? I put my last savings into this land, and I don’t want to lose my money or land. I don’t know what to do! HOW DO I TAKE THE NEXT STEP TO GET BACK MY LAND? PLEASE ADVICE
ANSWER: Before you go to the police station or try to go to court to say that a Usurper has trespassed on your land, you should check yourself and the documents you have as proof of ownership to see if you have the right ones to help your case:
- An Omo-onile Family Receipt from the Accredited Family Head and signed by both the Family Secretary and the Principal Member. It lists the family name, the date the land was bought, where the land is, how much it cost, and the known family address.
- A Duly signed Deed of Assignment showing the parties to the Agreement, the Family Members who sold the piece of land to you which must include the Family Members who sold the land to you which must include the Family Head, Secretary and Principal witness and it must be duly stamped.
- A Valid Survey Plan showing all the Beacon Numbers, the Survey Plan number, the name of the Surveyor who surveyed it, the Year it was Surveyed including proof of Lodgement of the Red copy at the Survey-General’s office.
- Mode of Payment both through a Bank Check or Draft and including witness to the Transaction. This is the Position of the Law that was established in The Supreme Court Case between NWOKOROBIA V NWOGU IN 2009 where it was stated that one of the Ways to prove ownership of title to land is by Production of Documents of Title. This means that if you want to show that you have a better title to the same land than the other person, you need a lot of documents to back up your claim.
please make sure all your papers are in order so that they can help your case tomorrow if there is a land dispute.
