Disclaimer: This is not a legal advice. It is for education
How law enforcement agents are misused in land and tenant disputes: What victims can do.
Land and tenancy disputes are common in Nigeria. They range from buying land from an unauthorized vendor, buying land under litigation, buying without family consent, or buying land under government acquisition just to mention a few. On the tenancy side, issues include unpaid rent, breach of tenancy terms, and eviction. The law is clear: these are civil matters. The proper forum is the court. Yet many landlords run to the police to intimidate the tenants while purchasers of land run to the police at any problem arising from the sales.
Section 4 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 limits police duties to: prevention, detection of crime, arrest of offenders, preservation of law and order, protection of life and property, and enforcement of laws directly charged to them. Policemen and women are not debt collectors, estate agents, or judges. Once we understand this, the misuse will become obvious.
Below are the two main areas of abuse, separated, with practical solutions.
PART 1: POLICE IN LAND DISPUTES: This happens mostly when a buyer discovers a defect in title after purchase or when several persons have purchased a particular piece of land. Instead of suing, petitions are taken to the police. The petition is framed as “conduct likely to cause breach of peace,” “malicious damage,” or “obtaining by false pretense” under Section 419 of the Criminal Code. The vendor is invited, detained, and pressured to sign an undertaking to refund money before bail. In other cases, two people claim the same land. One writes a petition and the police summon both parties to “compare documents” and decide who has better title in their understanding. That is not supposed to be as Police is not a court.
Police can only intervene when there is a criminal element. Examples: Land grabbing/forceful entry: Lagos State Properties Protection Law 2016, Section 2 criminalizes forceful takeover by violence. Section 4 criminalizes illegal occupation. Fraudulent sale by impostors: A group sell of family land when they are not accredited family representatives. This can be fraud, Forgery or obtaining by trick If documents are forged, or if a party threatens violence or actually uses violence but if the case is simply failed transaction, no refund or who has better title, it is civil matter and has nothing to do with police.
Police cannot declare who owns land. That is for the High Court. It has no power to compel refund or forcing a vendor to sign an undertaking under threat of detention. The police have no power to seal or take over land. Only a court order can do that. When police do any of these acts, the right thing to do immediately is for victims to engage a lawyer immediately. Get the lawyer to write the police, stating that the matter is civil and citing Section 4, Police Act 2020 and Section 35, 1999 Constitution on personal liberty. File for enforcement of fundamental rights: Under the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules 2009, you can sue the police to stop arrest, detention, or harassment over a civil land dispute. Courts routinely grant perpetual injunctions against police in such cases You can sue for damages If you were unlawfully detained, you can claim damages for unlawful imprisonment and breach of fundamental rights. You can Lay a direct complaint at the Magistrate Court: You do not need a lawyer to do this. Many Nigerians do not know this. Once the matter is before a court, the police will withdraw immediately. Alternatively, you can report to superior officers: Complain to the DPO, Area Commander, Commissioner of Police, or the Police Service Commission. The Force has internal discipline mechanisms but your sure bet is the court.
PART 2: POLICE IN LANDLORD-TENANT MATTERS How It Happens:
A landlord wants rent arrears or possession. Instead of serving a Quit notice, 7-day notice and going to court, he petitions the police. The complaint is framed as “threat to life,” “criminal activity on the premises,” or “conduct likely to breach peace.” The tenant is arrested, detained, and coerced to pay rent or vacate within days. Sometimes police officers accompany landlords to change locks or throw out a tenant’s belongings. This is illegal self-help. No one should tolerate this practice.
Police can act only if there is a crime: threat to life, assault, drug dealing, or willful damage to property. Non-payment of rent, breach of covenant, or holding over after notice are civil matters. Eviction must be by court order.
Solutions for Tenants Facing Police Harassment: Do not sign anything under duress: Refuse to sign an undertaking to pay or vacate. Ask to see a warrant or court order. Demand your rights: Cite Section 35, 1999 Constitution and Section 4, Police Act 2020 to the police. Insist the matter is civil. The police usually get careful with people who knows the law and are confident to state it and stand on it. File a fundamental rights suit. This is the fastest remedy. The court can order immediate release and bar further police interference. Sue for damages and trespass. If police helped with illegal eviction, sue the landlord and the police for damages, trespass, and breach of quiet enjoyment. Report to the Complaint Response Unit of the Nigeria Police, the Police Service Commission, or the National Human Rights Commission. Use the Magistrate Court: File a criminal complaint for false accusation and unlawful eviction. It costs little and often stops the harassment. If you are in Lagos State, tell the police Officer, this is a civil tenancy matter. Under Section 37 and 38 of the Lagos Tenancy Law 2011 and Section 4 of the Police Act 2020, you have no power to evict me. Call your lawyer immediately and take video record of the incident but stay safe from the police because they can be violent in this kind of situation as they know it is illegal.
Why This Misuse Persists is because of ignorance: Many citizens do not know the line between civil and criminal cases. People are worried about the time wasted in courts and the police action is faster than court. People are also afraid of police and police knows this. They are afraid of intimidation by the police that is why land owners and Landlords use the police to intimidate tenants and land purchasers. If you insist on, your right by a quote of the laws to the police, call your lawyer and try to get people to stop the violence eviction. Police will usually withdraw because they know it is illegal.
PROPERTYGROOM advise people to cultivate the habits of using the courts instead of police. The Government and civil society organizations, churches and mosques should educate the people that the Police have no business in real estate unless where there is a crime. The police must teach its members when a matter is civil or criminal because sometimes the police is very ignorant or deliberately and willfully decide to abuse their powers by getting involved in a clear civil matter in real estate.
Police have a role in real estate, but it is narrow. It is only when crimes like fraud, forgery, violence, and illegal occupation are involved. They have no role in deciding title, collecting rent, or evicting tenants. If you are a buyer, vendor, landlord, or tenant facing police intimidation over a civil matter, do not panic. Instruct a lawyer to file a fundamental rights suit, and report the abuse. The court, not the police station, is where real estate disputes belong. In most cases it is cheaper for you to go to court than police as you may end up going to court after spending money in the police. Police do not solve the problem in Land disputes permanently, the courts do.
Follow us in our social media for information on what to do when faced with police intimidation in real estate matters and more updates on the limits of police powers in Real estate transactions.