Lagos govt moves to curb land grabbing

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered complete excision on untitled lands across the state to curb incidents of land grabbing.

According to the governor, the directive represents a major turning point in land administration in the state, as the exercise would enable the state government to carry out documented delineation on communal land and land owned by the families.

Sanwo-Olu gave the order at the Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibitions, a two-day event organised by the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA).

Remarking at the event, the governor condemned an effort by state officials to frustrate and sabotage the full take-off of the State’s Enterprise Geographic Information System (e-GIS) project, initiated to automate approval of land surveys and allocation titles.

He issued a stern warning, saying he would be ruthless in purging out saboteurs of the initiative in the ranks of the government.

He said: “One of the issues we are working on is the ownership of land. There is a large parcel of land across Lagos that doesn’t have the Government title.

Read also: Ambode signs anti-land grabbing bill into law

“It is to announce to this gathering that I’ve made up my mind that we are going to do excision for untitled land. This process will kick off next year and we will set up a committee whose composition will represent all traditional divisions in Lagos. With equity and fairness, we will yield proper titles on all the land, so that the issue of land grabbing can be reduced to minimum.

“We will also be carrying out genuine reform in our Survey Department. We need to have our e-GIS platform up and running after 10 years that it was initiated. I’m expressing my disappointment in some Government officials sabotaging these efforts. I will look for the culprits and I will be ruthless in meting out punishment. I will ensure these saboteurs have no place in my government.”

Meanwhile, the activities of land-grabbers have created an unpredictable climate in land acquisition in Lagos, robbing private real estate investors and individuals of their fortunes.

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