Omo onile: The land kingpins in Lagos
Construction siteA man bought a piece of land from
an Omo Onile through an agent
but when he wanted to start construction on his plot, people started appearing intermittently, all claiming to be Omo Onile and ready to extort some money from him. Since he had no choice, he kept paying at everymajor steps of construction.. After initially settling everybody so that work can commence, it was time for the older generation to take their dues, three old men of over 70 visited the site and disrupted construction work on the land giving vague and sometimes flimsy excuses which are usually lies; claiming that the cassava that was demolished on the land belongs to him, and he is ready to take the case to the police station and bragging that the man will pay him millions for this because it is the proceed from the cassava that he uses to feed and send his children to school. This was strange to the man because he never met any cassava stem on the plot and the man is claiming a full plot of cassava plantation. This happened in Mowe.
A woman bought a plot of land in Egbeda, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos over eight years ago and had started construction on it for some time now. Early this year when she had money to deck the building, she got a dose of the treatment being meted out to would be builders by the Omo Oniles, they flooded the site and asked for a particular sum of money before work could commence on the land claiming that the money she paid for the land was too small, though she could not remember seeing any of their faces when she bought the land. They held the workers to ransom and even the presence of armed police officers could not help the situation until the woman danced to the tune of the Omo Oniles.
In Igando community, one must not dare buy a land if he is not ready to build because each time he comes to do anything on the plot, he must re-buy the land if it has not already been sold to someone who had the cash to build a house immediately.
There are many cases of Omo Onile trying to outstretch buyers even when they have paid them their illegal entitlements. Some can go as high as making buyers repurchase the land as many times as possible, some sell Government acquired Lands to unsuspecting buyers and when government decides to ask for their land, only the buyer faces the tune, in fact, this is very common in Lagos.
The term Omo Onile literarily means land owners but it has been observed that among this Omo Oniles are people who could not even speak the dialect of the community where he is claiming to have inherited land. An example of this is that of an Igbo man whose father never stepped on the soil of Lagos but has been selling off parcels of land in Alimosho claiming it is his father property which he inherited. Many people have not been able to come to term with the issue of Omo Onile who has turned themselves into demigods in the society to the extent that the presence of the men of the Nigerian Police Force means nothing to them.
The Omo Oniles have become an institution and operate on different levels. Lagos Magazine investigations revealed that the Area boys who present themselves as Omo Onile operate on levels - Federal Level and State Level, as a result, one pays at different times and those at the federal level at times make over Two Hundred Thousand Naira just making noise, panting and disturbing innocent people building their houses.
The Omo Onile syndrome has become a social malady that starts from purchasing the land to laying the foundation, decking, roofing, to completing the house the Omo Oniles always appear to demand for money and they succeed. Though the government of the land does not recognize Omo Onile and their nefarious activities, they do not go against them either even when they unwillingly extort money from hapless Nigerians, infringe on human rights and disrupt peace. To the Omo Onile’s, they believe they are in a legitimate business backed indirectly by the lackluster attitude of the government especially since no one is fighting them and they have nothing at stake.
Many Nigerians have been victims of Omo Oniles in many cities across Nigeria but it seems it is more prevalent in Lagos and Ogun states. An estate agent/ land valuer spoke to Lagos Magazine on the issue. He explained that they have become illegitimately legitimate and see people as someone coming to take away their inherited land though most times, they do not have any affiliation with the family that owns the land.
Adeleke Mosunmola works with a developing firm in Lagos. She explained that fighting the Omo Oniles is an effort in futility. You are the one with the money and you are the one that wants to construct a building so if you do not dance to their tune, you will have to convert money into other uses and if not, you must be ready to lose many things even lives of workers. They know that they have nothing to lose and are prepared to destroy others for their material gains. This is one of their strengths.
How do Omo Oniles win their battles even against their learned opponents? Investigations have shown that they use psychology to win the battle. They exploit people by wearing them out with trouble and frustrating their efforts. Ono Joseph, a resident of Iju in Lagos who has been involved in the Omo Onile crisis while consructing his two bedroom apartment said, intimidation is by far their greatest weapon. One may have up to eight different groups laying claim to the land and coming at different time of the day to collect money. If one gives in to fear or show that you do not want any trouble, the game is set as they will extort huge sum of money from such individuals.
Also, if you show that you have enough to settle them by not haggling before paying the least, they will come back frequently for greater amounts of money or disturb work on the site. The system is the more money you pay them; the more the more they come back for until you get angry and call their bluff.
Aside haggling and putting up a bold face to reduce price, how can one win these touts one may wonder. People that have become experts through their many experiences with the Omo Oniles gave tips about the issue. The best way is to use the guerrilla method. That is employ laborers that live around your site and work at odd hours; early hours of the day, evening and night. This may give you the opportunity to be able to avoid some of them but one cannot avoid all because that is their job and they are like vultures searching for cadavers. Ayanfe Salam said.
Another person said going straight to meet the Baale or king of the land is another option though it will eventually be expensive, it will save one from the incessant harassments of Omo Oniles and also reduce the nuisance they constitute.
The fact that Omo Oniles know that people generally building houses do not want trouble and are intimidated by their incessant harassments and noise gives them the confidence to exploit almost anybody. They tap into this for maximum exploitation. One must therefore not show them that he has money to throw around because the more one spends, the more they are going to ask for. It is therefore advisable for people who are afraid of confrontation to look for someone that can stand in for them when facing the Omo Oniles.
Omo Oniles are here to stay; it is a malady with no immediate cure so people need to be prepared to face them on their turf. When a building is under construction and young able bodied men numbering between 20 to 50 comes to parade themselves as Omo Onile and Area boys demanding for money, there is no need to fear, one just needs to pretend he does not care but is doing them a favor by paying any amount.
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