Land Grabbing Land grabbing is an age-long theft involving the illegal allocation of preoccupied land to another person either by the original seller of the land, a relative, or, in the worst case, area boys or hardened land grabbers who have no direct relationship to the land’s ownership.
Nowadays, people devise various means to protect and secure land that is purchased either for investment or residential purposes but with little financial capability to develop the land for the purpose for which it was bought. Over time, Land sellers assume, in the worst, the original land owner would be given another allocation but at a less valued area. Recall that the only return on investment on Land is an increment in value of the land which is a subject of its location, and the developmental projects that might have taken place in the area.
Land theft is not only limited to grabbing the entire land as part of land could also be dubiously sold out to others or allocated for providing road access to other pieces of land after the main layout for the road might have been sold, illegitimately.
Many people device means to secure their land from the frivolous attitudes of the land grabbers, and in this article, we will look at some means that may assist landowners in securing their land, putting into consideration the size of the land, the purpose for which it was acquired and the financial capability of the land owner.
Fence the Land
The commonest means that people deploy to secure land from the torment of the land grabbers is to get the land fenced with the installation of a gate. This has worked in many instances but it could be challenging and fail to work if the financial capability of the land owner is low or frustrated by an unforeseen event.
Besides, when it comes to fencing, many people limit the thought to full-block fencing, which financially makes it unbearable for the vast majority of landowners, and the idea may even sound unideal if the piece of land is big.
Fencing of land is considerably suitable for land that is located within a developing area or an already developed area. Reliably, full-block fencing is recommended with a gate. However, if your financial muscle is not versatile, it is recommendable to go for a half-fence, instead of a full-height fence bearing in mind that the number of blocks required to install a full-height fence will, reliably, deliver a three-bedroom flat bungalow up to the roof-level.
Perimeter Fencing with concrete poles and wires is ideal for pieces of land that run into acres or hectares that might have been purchased, primarily for farming or industrial purposes but if the owner has the financial wherewithal, full-height or half-height full-block fencing will not only secure the pieces of land, it will also give privacy to the industrial activities taking place on the land.
Although fencing a piece of land does better in sending out a clear perspective of the boundary of land as it informs land grabbers that the potential owner of the land is likely a literate person who may have the financial muscle to take up whatever legal battle it requires to retrieve the land if it is tampered with, it is important to note that erecting a house on a piece of land could be the best means to secure a piece of land under some circumstances.
Build your House
Fencing a piece of land as a means of securing it from land grabbers might be a good idea but, in some instances, it might not be recommendable.
Whether your land is located in a developing or developed area, once you are ready to move into the house on completion to a stage, and if your house plan is simple, erecting your house could be the best idea to secure your house from land grabbers.
Consider having a piece of land in a developing area, and you have money to mold or buy about 6,000 to 8,000 blocks required for a full-height fence whereas a three-bedroom flat may not consume more than 5,000 blocks depending on your house plan, you should erect your building is a way to go, if you don’t want to fall into the hands of the land grabbers.
Right from erecting a foundation on a piece of land, any intending buyer in a developing area will be alerted to do more findings about the ownership of the land because it is not a common practice to sell land with a foundation except the owner faces some challenges or the piece of land itself has some challenges which no new owner would want to inherit if pre-informed.
Besides, once you move into your half-completed house, your land is more than secured as you will become the source of finding the originality of the ownership of the neighboring pieces of land that may surround you.
Accommodate a farmer
In the case you are not ready to build the land or the piece of land is vast and purchased for a long-term investment, the requirement to protect and secure your land becomes more necessary and severe.
A piece of land left unused over a long period is the first target of the land grabbers bearing in assumptions that the owner might have died, relocated out of the country, all sorts of assumptions, and without informing any member of his family about the ownership.
Now to curtail this, ensure that the piece of land is given out to some people for farming, erection of shanties (temporary shops), and make-shift small-scale businesses like block industry, car hire, motor parks, motorcycle parks, and tricycle parks; these are set of people who may find it difficult to cooperate against you in hijacking the land. However, be careful you don’t allocate a full piece of your land to one person. If possible make them enter into a legal agreement about the allocation and in the case of farming, ensure that you rotate the beneficiary of the allocation over a maximum of three years because people are terrible.
Above all, ensure that you bound them to a payment structure that must be formally paid to serve as evidence of the purpose of their presence on the land. The charge may even be as cheap as the cost of a cup of garri but it will go a long way in preventing trespassing.
Install Signposts
Whether your piece of land is half a plot or hectares of land, once you are not ready to use it, immediately, ensure that you install a signpost on the piece of land with an inscription indicating the ownership of the land, and your contacts for inquiries.
Although the aforementioned strategies will ensure trespassers keep off from patronizing your piece of land for their thefts, it is also important to keep inspecting the land from time to time and form relationships with land owners that surround your piece of land whether they are residing there or not.
Category: World-News
Tag: Secure land grabber
Written by Omooba Alekuwodo (omoobaalekuwodo)
Published 11/19/2023 10:55:19 AM