Lagos residents with land disputes have been warned against resorting to self-help, employing land grabbers to perpetrate violence.

According to the Lagos State Government, there are laws in place, and violence will never be condoned in settling of disputes in land matters.

Commissioner for Justice-Attorney-General, Moyosore Onigbanjo, gave the warning at a stakeholders’ meeting in Ikorodu themed “Land Grabbers, the Law, and Your rights”.

He says the Court of Law is easy access by any aggrieved resident, as it is important all residents should learn to uphold the rule of law, rather than resorting to self leading to Killing and maiming people in the name of land disputes.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria spoke through Director Advisory Services, Saheed Quadri, noted that government enacted the state property protection law to prohibit forceful entry and illegal occupation of landed properties.

He accused some traditional leaders and community members of working as accomplices for land grabbers.

Coordinator of the Lagos State Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers, Owolabi Arole, said the use of land grabbers, perpetuating violence and killings over properties have contributed to the stifled property development in the Ikorodu division.

Arole disclosed that the taskforce has received over 5000 petitions since its establishment in 2016.

He said majority of these disputes are from the Ikorodu area.

A Muslim cleric, the Grand Imam of Oriwu Central Mosque, Yaya Oshoala, also indicted lawyers, police, and traditional leaders of complicity in violence emanating from land grabbing incidences.

Oshoala said land grabbers in Ikorodu should not be solely blamed for illegal land acquisition, as some eggs in law enforcement agencies, also collaborate with other elements in the community to engage in illegal land grab.

“There is injustice on the part of some family elders and the baales (traditional chiefs) due to their greed and selfish interests,” Oshoala said.

“We rely on the police but they some times let us down, these land grabbers collude with them to subvert justice.

Also, Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, says criminal activities of land grabbers occurred because of some greedy conspirators within families in Ikorodu.

According to him, conspirators from outside would be so mean that they do not care if people die in the process of grabbing land for their co-conspirators within families.

He exonerated the police from the allegations of conspiring with land grabbers, saying the police job is to arrest, investigate and prosecute.

Odumosu spoke through an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations in Lagos.

However, the representative of the Ikorodu branch of the Nigerian Bar Association Shakiru Omolaja reiterated that section 11 of the Lagos State Property Protection Law, 2016, prescribes 10 years’ imprisonment for anyone convicted of land grabbing and advised aggrieved parties to seek legal redress.

Omolaja implored members of the community to respect the rule of law with regards to Land disputes instead of resulting to violence, saying ” Law is a respecter of no person”.