Buying a house can be a beautiful experience or one that leaves you with nasty memories depending on how you eventually decide to go about it. The fact that you have money to buy a house is not enough to contact a random real estate agent and hand the money over to him/her. Below are some home buyer horror stories from Nigerians which will highlight some of the things you should look out for when buying a house.
Paying the Wrong People
Chioma in Lagos decided to buy a piece of land in Sangotedo. She did and when it was time to start construction, she paid workers to commence work but this was when trouble reared its ugly head. A strange set of people suddenly confronted her and openly accused her of encroaching their property. She explained to them that she has actually acquired the land from a certain Bisiriyu family. She even went as far as showing them the receipt and deed of assignment for the land. She eventually, later discovered that she had acquired the land from fraudsters who had posed as the Bisiriyu family. She had been scammed.
She got the crooks arrested but after some time, they were released. The genuine Bisiriyu family gave her the option of buying the land all over again or vacating the property. Sadly, she had spent about N10 million already on buying the land, getting documentation, fencing the land and a bit of rafting. She was stuck.
A Narrow Escape From ‘Omo Oniles’
Jimmy lives and works in Lagos and he almost paid his hard-earned N4 million to a group of sellers known as ‘Omo Onile’ (literally meaning ‘child of the landowner’ but technically, they are miscreants with a powerful network of notoriety within the real estate circle). They are also known as land grabbers.
Back to Jimmy, he almost lost his N4 million to Omo Onile when some of his colleagues acquired over 20 plots of land from them. The location of the land was UNILAG Estate but the land grabbers told his colleagues that the land they were buying was within Magodo Extension. They wanted Jimmy to join in the acquisition of the land but he had his reservations because no one showed him any proof of ownership. Instead, he was asked to join the group in buying and paying for the land.
On the day he was ready to pay his N4 million share of the cost, he was taken to the site and there, he saw people fighting with the land grabbers and demanding that the Omo Onile either refund them or provide an alternative land for them. Their biggest point of displeasure was the fact that the land grabbers had misled them to believe that the land they were paying for was within Magodo Extension. They, however, discovered that the land actually belonged to the government.
Jimmy has vowed never to trust any Omo Onile ever again and he was more than happy that he had not paid because he was on the verge of taking a loan to buy the land and had also planned to spend extra money on fencing it.
Making Multiple Payments to Land Grabbers
Mrs Adetokunbo is a resident of Lagos and after working hard to raise money to buy a piece of land and hiring workers to commence work on the property, she was approached by ‘Omo Oniles.’
When the ‘Omo Oniles’ arrived, she was asked to pay N150,000 before they could allow her to commence work on her property. She was not comfortable with this in any way but they threatened to create problems for her. They threatened to kill anyone who dared to proceed with the construction work before paying them. One of the workers who challenged them almost had his skull crushed with a building block save the timely intervention of Mr Adetokunbo and she eventually paid.
Later on the same day, another group arrived at her site and demanded a sum of N250,000. She refused to pay and told them that she had previously paid them N150,000. They told her that the group she had earlier paid were fakes. She was devastated but to secure her land, she paid them N200,000 with several cartons of wine, which they had demanded before they would allow any construction work continue on her land.
This was not the end of her nightmare. When she began laying the foundation of her house, the ‘Omo Oniles’ showed up again and demanded another N100,000. They were armed with planks and dangerous objects and after several hours of appeal and lots of back and forth, they agreed to collect N50,000. At the end of the day, what she paid the land grabbers was N50,000 shy of N.5 million.
Chased Away From Your Own Property by Miscreants
When it comes to home buyer horror stories, Ajibade considers himself a big victim. In 2012, he acquired a plot of land in Ikorodu, developed the foundation of the property and even went ahead to mount a perimeter fence around his property as well as a gate.
His plan was to own his own house and he believed that the perimeter fence and gate would help him continue his construction works and avoid any unnecessary attention to the building he was erecting behind the walls he has erected.
Barely after the completion of the first phase of his building project, Ajibade lost his property. While he was away from his property, information from a reliable source reached him about some strange men taking over his property and even going as far as helping him build the house up to the lintel stage within a very short space of time.
Ajibade was shocked and in a swift reaction, he got into his car and headed for his site. For safety, he had asked two other people to accompany him. When he got there, what he discovered was terrible. The information he received was not only true but it was so bad that he and his companions had to abandon the car and fled for their lives as they were chased by ‘Omo Oniles’ visibly wielding dangerous weapons.
They chased them and they ran as fast as their legs would carry them until they were sure they were no longer being pursued. His dar was eventually retrieved but those who sold the land to him could only assure him of another plot of land elsewhere as compensation, which he refused.
He requested a refund of the money he had spent on the property but never got it. Instead, he only received a pittance and that was the end of what was once his property.
Greedy Landowners
Lawrence was based in the United States when his family advised him to build a house in Nigeria and consider settling down in the country. He agreed and in September 2015, he acquired a plot of land in Aboru within Agbado Oke Odo Local Council Development Area from a lawyer.
He proceeded to start work on the property and was sure he would be able to cover a significant portion of his building project during his 2-week holiday in Nigeria. Things didn’t actually go according to plan.
Friends and relatives had advised him about the need to factor the money to settle Omo Oniles into his budget and he complied. However, barely two days after settling the group of Omo Oniles he had been directed to, another batch of land grabbers paid him a visit and demanded to be paid.
To Lawrence’s shock, the woman claimed to be the daughter of the woman who sold the land to the lawyer who then sold it to him. Lawrence was quick to tell the woman that he had no business with her since she was not the one he acquired the land from.
She, however, insisted on being a part of the deal especially now that Lawrence was erecting the house. To compound Lawrence’s shock, the lawyer he bought the land from advised him to cooperate with the woman. He paid her N250,000 despite already paying almost the same amount of money to the first group he had been directed to.
Frustration set in and Lawrence came close to abandoning the project because other groups confronted him at different points of the construction of the house. They came when he was on the verge of erecting a gate. They returned yet again when he was working on the lintel. Whenever they came, they threatened to destroy all he had done if he refused to cooperate.
The Way Forward
To tackle this scourge, the government approved a 21-year jail sentence for anyone charged and found guilty of land grabbing. The State House of Assembly also pulled its weight by prohibiting forceful entry and illegal occupation of land in a state.
Over the years, the government has been concerned by the menace of ‘Omo Oniles’ and land grabbers and has made it clear that this would not be tolerated.
If you ever find yourself confronted by ‘Omo Oniles,’ you should gather evidence and forward them to security agencies to take action.
Before you pay for any land, it is important to carry out a thorough research, work on proper documentation and verify the status of the property you are interested in before making any form of payment or commitment. Endeavour to go through the ideal validation of title from the state’s land registry.
Working with a trusted real estate agent also saves you a lot of trouble as they have more experience in dealing with land. They will help you find out which land is safe to buy and the ones you should avoid.
