JUDICIAL FRAUD AND LAND GRABBING: A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR THE LEGAL SYSTEM

By Monday Ubani

About six years ago, my client, a UK-based Nigerian widow became the target of an audacious scheme orchestrated by a notorious syndicate of land grabbers operating under the guise of a land owning family in Lagos. Their objective was clear: to dispossess her of her rightful ownership of three plots of land situated behind the former Tasty Fried Chicken building on Opebi Road, Ikeja.

In a disturbing abuse of judicial process, these individuals approached a Magistrate Court then at Ikeja Local Airport, and by misrepresentation and fraudulent manipulation, secured a writ of possession against my client. It appeared their strategy was anchored on the assumption that the rightful owner was deceased. However, unknown to them, my client was very much alive, she only passed on last year.

Following this fraudulent judgment, the land grabbers, aided by a lawyer with an infamous reputation in the Ikeja axis for such sharp practices, took swift and forceful possession of the land. They began advertising the property to prospective buyers, offering each plot for several millions of naira.

Upon being alerted by my client’s tenants, I conducted a search and discovered that the defendants had surreptitiously instituted the action using one of their own as the purported adverse party, who did not contest possession. Realising the magnitude of the fraud, I promptly secured my client’s Certificate of Occupancy and filed an application for joinder and a motion to set aside the judgment, backed by robust documentary evidence and affidavits deposing to the true facts.

The defendants, in a desperate and laughable defence, relied on a purported judgment allegedly delivered in the 1920s, claiming global ownership of lands stretching from Ikeja to Agege. When pressed to produce a survey plan or other definitive means of delineating the land covered by such a judgment, they failed woefully. The supposed plan was neither attached nor frontloaded.

Fortunately, the presiding Magistrate, a sharp, fearless, and principled judicial officer, saw through the deception and set aside the judgment accordingly.

What followed was a calculated legal standoff. After some days passed, I anticipated that the defendants would file a notice of appeal along with a motion for stay of execution, I acted strategically: by 8:00 a.m. of that day, possession had been recovered, effectively foreclosing their efforts to frustrate justice. They served their notice of appeal and motion for stay by 9am as I had anticipated.

Predictably, they resorted to harassment by filing a spurious petition at the Lagos State Police Command, alleging trespass. When that failed, they escalated the matter to the Assistant Inspector General of Police at Zone 2, Onikan. However, following a comprehensive review of all court documents and the title records, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, an officer of commendable integrity, sternly warned the fraudulent parties and their counsel never to return with such frivolous claims. He also threatened legal consequences for presenting forged or misleading documents.

Regrettably, such land-grabbing tactics are far from isolated. I am presently handling another similar matter at the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja Judicial Division. In this case, a property owner based in Jos, who has been in undisturbed possession of his land since before the Nigerian Civil War, was excluded from a suit for possession. The Plaintiffs falsely claimed adverse possession and obtained judgment using a family member as a nominal defendant. This is a land that had been returned to the owner (my client) by the Lagos State Government post-war, after a temporary wartime acquisition.

That matter is ongoing, and we remain confident that justice will again prevail.

These cases serve as stark reminders of how certain individuals exploit procedural loopholes, such as substituted service and fictitious defendants, to perpetrate judicial fraud. It is common practice for notice of service to be pasted at the premises at odd hours, quickly photographed, and removed before anyone notices, thereby fabricating compliance with due process.

This modus operandi, if not checked, undermines the integrity of our justice system. It may very well explain the plight Mr. Peter Obi’s brother, whose reported dispossession, despite a valid Certificate of Occupancy and long-standing possession, calls for judicial scrutiny and legal redress.

While the wheels of justice may turn slowly, they remain capable of grinding exceedingly fine, provided legal practitioners act with diligence, and judicial officers remain vigilant and impartial.

RECOMMENDATION FOR REFORM
There is a compelling need to amend our procedural rules regarding the use of unnamed or unknown persons as defendants in land litigation. Courts, both at High Court and Magistrate level – should be mandated to conduct locus in quo inspections where defendants are purportedly unknown or where substituted service is claimed. Such reforms will deter fraudulent practices and restore public confidence in the judiciary.

In conclusion, let it be reaffirmed: the Nigerian legal system, though imperfect, is still a formidable instrument for the protection of property rights when wielded with integrity, precision, and tenacity.

• Dr. Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN is a Legal Practitioner and Public Affairs Analyst. He can be reached at ubangwa@gmail.com

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