AIG Jimoh Olohundare: Restoring Order To Lagos Landscape Through A Decisive War Against Land Grabbers
By Adewole Kehinde
Land ownership is one of the most valuable investments a person can make, particularly in a commercial and economically vibrant state like Lagos. For many Nigerians, acquiring land represents years of hard work, personal sacrifice, business ambition and the desire to secure a better future for their families. However, for decades, the activities of land grabbers, popularly known as Omo Onile, have constituted a serious threat to property ownership, real estate investment, public safety and economic development in Lagos State.
The menace has been particularly disturbing because individuals and organised groups have exploited disputes over land ownership, forged documents, intimidation, unlawful levies, physical violence and the use of thugs to dispossess legitimate property owners of their investments.
Even more troubling is the fact that some victims have been forced to abandon their properties, engage in prolonged litigation or pay multiple illegal fees simply to enjoy the land they legitimately acquired.
It is against this background that the decisive intervention and strategic approach of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Jimoh Olohundare deserve commendation.
His approach to tackling land grabbing in Lagos State represents an important demonstration of what determined, intelligence-driven and institutionally coordinated policing can achieve when law enforcement is deployed to protect the rights of ordinary citizens and safeguard the investment climate.
Under his leadership, the fight against land grabbing has received renewed attention, with a combination of law enforcement, engagement with relevant government institutions, application of statutory provisions, intelligence gathering and physical security interventions aimed at preventing land-related criminal activities before they escalate into violence or irreversible losses.
The reported drastic reduction in land-grabbing incidents and the disruption of the activities of notorious land-grabbing elements are developments worthy of recognition. More importantly, they demonstrate the importance of sustained enforcement rather than allowing criminal groups to operate with impunity.
The law must speak louder than the land grabbers
One of the most important foundations of AIG Jimoh’s approach is the recognition that the fight against land grabbing cannot be won through police arrests alone. It requires the effective implementation of existing laws and the coordinated deployment of relevant government institutions.
The Lagos State Government deserves credit for establishing the Lagos State Special Task Force on Land Grabbers under the Ministry of Justice. The task force provides an institutional framework for receiving petitions, investigating complaints, inviting disputing parties, conducting fact-finding exercises, facilitating reconciliation and coordinating enforcement with relevant government agencies.
The task force is particularly important because not every disagreement over land ownership constitutes a criminal offence. Some disputes involve competing claims, defective documentation, inheritance issues or genuine questions of title that must be resolved through appropriate legal processes.
This is where the collaboration between the police and the task force becomes indispensable.
AIG Jimoh’s approach deserves commendation for the emphasis on using lawful security interventions to prevent criminal elements from exploiting such disputes to intimidate legitimate property owners, invade construction sites, destroy buildings or impose illegal levies.
The statutory framework is equally important.
- Lagos State Properties Protection Law, 2016
This is the principal legal instrument for combating forceful land acquisition and unlawful occupation in Lagos State.
Section 2(1) prohibits the use of force or self-help to take over landed property or engage in conduct inconsistent with the proprietary rights of the legitimate owner.
Section 11 provides for severe punishment, including up to 10 years’ imprisonment for specified land-grabbing offences.
The law also criminalises activities associated with violent and fraudulent land acquisition and provides a framework for enforcement against those who use intimidation and force to dispossess legitimate owners.
The message is straightforward: nobody, irrespective of political connections, traditional influence, financial standing or social status, has the right to take another person’s property through violence, intimidation or unlawful occupation.
AIG Jimoh’s insistence on the application of the law, rather than allowing criminal gangs to settle property disputes through force, reinforces the principle that Lagos must remain a state governed by law and not by the dictates of powerful individuals or organised groups.
- Lagos State Special Task Force on Land Grabbers
The task force is a critical partner in this intervention. Operating under the Ministry of Justice, it provides a structured mechanism for dealing with land-grabbing complaints.
Its functions include:
Receiving petitions from individuals, families, companies and property developers.
Examining title documents and relevant evidence.
Inviting parties for fact-finding meetings and ensuring fair hearing.
Conducting physical inspections of disputed properties.
Facilitating mediation and reconciliation where appropriate.
Working with the Police when criminal conduct or an immediate security threat is established.
Collaborating with other government agencies to stop unlawful construction and illegal occupation.
The task force’s published records demonstrate the scale of the challenge. In its May 2026 ministerial briefing, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice disclosed that the task force received 1,628 petitions between May 2023 and April 2026, concluded 221 petitions, conducted 146 inscription exercises, restored several property owners to lawful possession and prosecuted more than 25 persons for land-grabbing offences.
These figures demonstrate why the police must remain an active and dependable partner in the enforcement process.
Lagos State Ministry of Justice+1
- The Lagos State Lands Bureau
The Lands Bureau plays an essential role in verifying government land allocations, land titles, registered interests and other relevant land records.
The involvement of the Lands Bureau helps investigators distinguish between legitimate ownership claims and fraudulent assertions by individuals who manufacture documents or falsely represent themselves as owners of properties.
AIG Jimoh’s approach to property-related security challenges should therefore be understood within the broader framework of institutional cooperation, where police action is informed by documentary evidence and relevant government records.
- Office of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State
Land grabbing frequently thrives where property boundaries are deliberately manipulated or where different parties claim ownership of overlapping parcels of land.
The Surveyor-General’s Office provides technical expertise in identifying land boundaries, examining survey plans, confirming coordinates and resolving discrepancies in survey documentation.
Its collaboration with the task force and the police is essential in preventing criminal groups from exploiting uncertainty over property boundaries.
- Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA)
Another important government institution is LASBCA, which has responsibility for building control and enforcement of applicable building regulations.
Where land grabbers invade a property and commence unauthorised construction, or where illegal structures are erected in violation of planning and building requirements, the agency’s intervention becomes necessary.
This helps ensure that the battle against land grabbing is not restricted to arresting perpetrators after damage has occurred. It also addresses the physical structures and unlawful developments through which criminal occupation may be consolidated.
- Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development
The ministry and its relevant agencies are important partners in ensuring that land use, development permits and planning requirements are respected.
The police should not determine ownership of land or substitute themselves for planning authorities. Rather, their responsibility is to prevent violence, criminal trespass, intimidation and other offences while the appropriate government institutions perform their statutory duties.
This distinction is fundamental to maintaining public confidence and protecting the integrity of the entire process.
Lagos State Ministry of Justice+1
Physical security: Moving from reaction to prevention
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of an effective anti-land-grabbing strategy is the deployment of physical security measures.
For years, one of the biggest advantages enjoyed by land grabbers was their ability to mobilise groups of thugs to invade properties, intimidate workers, chase away security personnel and take over land before victims could obtain meaningful assistance.
In some instances, the perpetrators would erect makeshift structures, destroy existing fences, place warning inscriptions on buildings and threaten anyone who challenged their presence.
AIG Jimoh’s security philosophy deserves commendation for placing emphasis on preventing such unlawful takeovers through timely police intervention.
The following measures are particularly important to sustaining this strategy:
Strategic police deployment at vulnerable properties: Where credible complaints, documentary evidence and an immediate threat to lives or property exist, appropriate police deployment can prevent armed individuals and criminal gangs from taking over disputed land.
Rapid response to distress calls: Prompt intervention when landowners, estate managers, construction workers or residents report an invasion can prevent a minor confrontation from escalating into violence, injuries or destruction of property.
Intelligence-led operations: Identifying the individuals financing, organising and coordinating land-grabbing operations is more effective than merely arresting the foot soldiers deployed to intimidate property owners.
Surveillance and monitoring: Increased attention to areas experiencing repeated land-related violence, particularly developing communities and property investment corridors, can help security agencies detect threats early.
Protection of lawful occupants and construction sites: Police presence can deter intimidation, assault, illegal entry and destruction of property, provided deployments are based on credible complaints and lawful authority.
Arrest and prosecution of offenders: The arrest of suspected perpetrators, proper investigation and prosecution through competent courts are necessary to ensure that criminal activities attract consequences.
These interventions must always be conducted within the law, with respect for subsisting court orders, the rights of all parties and the constitutional independence of the judiciary.
A security intervention should protect lawful possession; it must never become an instrument for deciding contested ownership or enforcing the private interests of any party.
AIG Jimoh’s leadership and the importance of inter-agency collaboration
AIG Olohundare Moshood Jimoh’s leadership deserves recognition for the importance it places on cooperation between the Nigeria Police Force and the Lagos State Government.
His deployment to Zone 2 Command, Onikan, in May 2026, covering Lagos and Ogun states, provided an opportunity to strengthen security coordination in one of Nigeria’s most economically important regions. His engagement with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State Security Trust Fund further underscored the importance of a shared approach to security.
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The Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) is another important institution in this arrangement. Through its support for security infrastructure, operational equipment, communications and other policing requirements, it contributes to creating an environment in which security agencies can respond more effectively to criminal threats.
AIG Jimoh’s leadership should therefore be measured not simply by the number of arrests made but also by the effectiveness of the security architecture established to prevent criminal activities.
His earlier tenure as Commissioner of Police in Lagos also provides useful context. In October 2025, he publicly reaffirmed the police commitment to combating illegal land activities, warning that unlawful conduct in land acquisition and building security would attract arrest and prosecution.
He also emphasised the importance of community cooperation and engagement with traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
These are important elements of sustainable policing because land grabbing cannot be defeated by police operations alone. It requires community intelligence, responsible traditional leadership, effective government administration and the consistent application of the law.
Land grabbing and the economic future of Lagos
Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre. Its real estate industry attracts billions of naira in investments from Nigerians at home and abroad.
From Lekki to Ibeju-Lekki, Epe, Ikorodu, Badagry, Alimosho and other developing communities, land remains an important asset for residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructural development.
Unfortunately, the activities of land grabbers have historically discouraged investment in some of these locations.
Investors cannot confidently commit substantial resources to property development when they are uncertain about the security of their investments.
A businessman who purchases land and subsequently faces intimidation, multiple illegal demands, threats of violence or attempts at forced occupation may abandon the project altogether. This creates a chain of economic consequences.
First, it discourages private investment. Second, it delays housing and infrastructure development. Third, it creates unnecessary litigation and additional costs for property owners. Fourth, it undermines public confidence in the land administration system. Finally, it creates an atmosphere in which criminal groups can exploit the vulnerabilities of legitimate investors.
The World Bank has also identified land grabbing and weaknesses in land administration as significant challenges to Lagos’s investment and development environment. Its assessment noted that the Lagos State Properties Protection Law, 2016, has helped reduce land-grabbing cases, although further institutional reforms remain necessary.
Consequently, any sustained improvement in the security of landed property is a positive development for the Lagos economy.
When investors are confident that their properties will be protected, they are more willing to develop estates, construct commercial buildings, establish industries and create employment opportunities.
This is why the work of security agencies in protecting property rights should also be viewed as an economic development responsibility.
The significance of the reported drastic reduction in land grabbing
One of the most encouraging developments associated with the tougher security posture being advocated under AIG Jimoh is the reported drastic reduction in the activities of land grabbers in areas where effective police intervention and institutional cooperation have been sustained.
The significance of this development cannot be underestimated.
When criminal groups realise that their activities will attract immediate police attention, that their victims can obtain institutional support and that the government will not tolerate forceful occupation of properties, the incentive to engage in such criminal activities diminishes.
The reported decline in land-grabbing incidents should therefore be seen as an important indication of the value of decisive policing.
However, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice’s May 2026 figures show that the problem has not disappeared. The 1,628 petitions received between May 2023 and April 2026, alongside the 221 concluded petitions, demonstrate the need for continued enforcement and stronger coordination.
The Lagos Attorney-General, Lawal Pedro, also raised concerns in May 2026 about inconsistent police cooperation with the state task force. That concern makes sustained collaboration between the police leadership and the Ministry of Justice even more important.
Lagos State Ministry of Justice+1
It is therefore important that the reported reduction under AIG Jimoh’s security initiatives is supported by regular operational statistics, verified complaints and prosecution records.
Nevertheless, the objective must remain clear: to make land grabbing an increasingly difficult and unprofitable criminal enterprise in Lagos State.
No sacred cows: The need to prosecute sponsors and accomplices
Another critical aspect of the anti-land-grabbing campaign must be the identification and prosecution of the sponsors of criminal activities.
Experience has shown that organised land grabbing often involves more than the individuals physically invading properties.
Behind some operations may be financiers, coordinators, document forgers, informants, individuals who impersonate traditional authorities and other accomplices who provide logistical or material support.
It is therefore insufficient to arrest only the young men deployed to intimidate property owners.
The police must investigate the entire criminal network, identify the people financing the operations and ensure that everyone against whom sufficient evidence exists is brought before the appropriate court.
Traditional institutions must also be encouraged to distinguish between legitimate community interests and the activities of individuals exploiting traditional authority to extort innocent property owners.
Similarly, lawyers, estate agents, surveyors and other professionals must be encouraged to report suspected fraudulent transactions rather than facilitate them.
AIG Jimoh’s anti-land-grabbing efforts will achieve greater success when the entire criminal chain is dismantled and not merely the visible elements.
Protecting property owners without undermining the rule of law
While commending decisive security intervention, it is equally important to emphasise that the fight against land grabbing must never become an excuse for arbitrary police action.
The police are not a land tribunal, and an allegation of ownership does not automatically establish legal title.
Where there are competing claims, the appropriate courts and relevant land administration institutions must determine the legal issues.
Police officers must protect lives and property, investigate criminal allegations, enforce lawful court orders and prevent violence.
They must not use their uniforms, authority or operational resources to intimidate any party, facilitate unlawful possession or interfere with judicial proceedings.
This is particularly important in a state where property disputes can involve influential businesspeople, traditional institutions, corporate organisations and ordinary families.
The credibility of AIG Jimoh’s security approach will be strengthened by transparency, professionalism, impartiality and strict adherence to due process.
Every legitimate property owner deserves protection, irrespective of social status or financial capacity. Equally, every individual accused of land grabbing deserves a fair investigation and the opportunity to defend themselves before a competent court.
Sustaining the gains: What Lagos must do next
For the reported reduction in land-grabbing activities to become permanent, the following measures should be sustained and strengthened:
- Permanent inter-agency coordination: The Police, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Special Task Force on Land Grabbers, Lands Bureau, Surveyor-General’s Office and relevant planning authorities should maintain a functional coordination mechanism.
- Dedicated rapid-response arrangements: Property owners and estate developers should have accessible channels for reporting attempted invasions, threats and unlawful occupation.
- Regular intelligence gathering: Security agencies should identify locations experiencing recurring land-related criminal activities and investigate the networks behind them.
- Public awareness: The government should intensify sensitisation on the provisions of the Properties Protection Law and the proper procedures for resolving property disputes.
- Transparent prosecution records: The government should periodically publish the number of petitions received, arrests made, cases prosecuted, convictions secured and properties restored to lawful possession.
- Protection of court orders: Police formations must ensure that subsisting judicial orders are respected and that no individual uses security personnel to undermine the authority of the courts.
- Community engagement: Traditional rulers, community development associations, estate associations and residents should be active partners in identifying and reporting suspicious activities.
- Accountability within the security system: Any police officer found to have colluded with land grabbers, abused authority or facilitated unlawful dispossession should face appropriate disciplinary and legal consequences.
These measures will ensure that the campaign does not depend solely on the personality of an individual police officer but becomes a sustainable institutional policy.
Conclusion: AIG Jimoh deserves commendation for prioritising the protection of property rights
The fight against land grabbing in Lagos State is fundamentally a fight for justice, economic development, public safety and the protection of the rights of ordinary Nigerians.
For too long, some individuals and criminal groups have treated land ownership as an opportunity to intimidate, extort and dispossess innocent people.
The era when criminal elements could confidently mobilise thugs, invade properties, destroy buildings and threaten legitimate owners without expecting a lawful security response must come to an end.
AIG Olohundare Moshood Jimoh deserves commendation for the emphasis on decisive, intelligence-driven policing and the need for effective cooperation with the Lagos State Government in confronting this menace.
The reported drastic reduction in land-grabbing activities following strengthened security interventions is encouraging and should inspire further commitment from all relevant institutions.
His leadership sends an important message that the protection of lives and property must remain at the centre of policing.
However, the real test of success will be whether the reported improvements can be sustained, whether victims obtain timely justice, whether criminal sponsors are prosecuted and whether investors can acquire and develop properties without fear of intimidation.
Lagos must not become a state where ownership is determined by the number of thugs an individual can mobilise, the influence of a wealthy sponsor or the ability to manipulate government institutions.
It must remain a state where the law protects the weak, restrains the powerful and guarantees justice to everyone.
AIG Jimoh should therefore sustain the momentum, strengthen institutional partnerships and ensure that the fight against land grabbing remains impartial, professional and firmly rooted in the rule of law.
The ultimate victory will not simply be the reduction of land-grabbing incidents. It will be the restoration of public confidence in property ownership, the protection of legitimate investments and the establishment of a Lagos State where no individual or group is powerful enough to take another person’s land through intimidation or force.
That is the legacy worth pursuing, and that is why the commitment to protecting property rights deserves recognition.
Adewole Kehinde is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja. 08166240846.