The Lagos State Government has urged legitimate land and property owners in the state to perfect their legal documents for easy administration of justice.
In an statement on Sunday, the Coordinator of the Lagos State Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers, Mr Owolabi Arole, noted that his team had since inauguration received over 1,300 petitions bordering on land grabbing.
He said that the agency concluded 550 cases, made 35 arrests and was still working on 330 petitions.
Arole added, “A large chunk of the land grabbing cases the task force is working on is fraught with issues of improper and incomplete legal documentation and such issues cause delay in getting justice for rightful owners of land.
“These issues, however, have not deterred us from carrying out our mandate and getting justice for rightful owners of land from unscrupulous elements who forcibly encroach and dispossess them of their property.”
Arole noted that untidy property documentation made it difficult for property forcefully taken to be retrieved through legal means.
While urging victims of land grabbers not to take the law into their own hands, the coordinator advised them to report to the state task force team which would ensure that justice was done.
He warned land thugs to desist from the illicit trade, saying the state government would bring the full weight of the law to bear on anybody caught forcibly taking another person’s property.
