Rose from the ashes of banned CDAs to become developers’ new nightmare
By Ozioruva Aliu
BENIN CITY — For landowners and property developers in Benin Kingdom, October 2016 was supposed to be the dawn of a new era.
During his coronation as the 40th Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Ewuare II delivered a pronouncement that sent waves of relief across the ancient city. With a single declaration, he banned Community Development Associations (CDAs), the notorious groups that had turned land development into a gauntlet of extortion.
For years, developers had endured what they called “deve”, a draining cycle of payments demanded when a foundation was laid, when construction reached lintel level, during roofing, and even after buildings were occupied. The CDAs had become “a hydra-headed monster about to devour the entire populace,” as one traditional chief later put it. Land was sold to multiple buyers, and money was collected at random.
When the Edo State House of Assembly backed the Oba’s pronouncement with a law in 2017, developers breathed easier. For a time, peace reigned. Properties were developed without the shadow of harassment. But peace, it turned out, was only temporary.
The new face of an old menace
In recent years, a new power bloc has emerged across Benin Kingdom’s seven local government areas. They call themselves Okaighele, youth leaders rooted in Benin tradition, originally tasked with community protection, enforcing local customs, and coordinating communal labour under village elders and traditional heads.
But somewhere along the way, the script flipped.
The ban on CDAs, according to the Association of Enigie (dukes), “paved the way for the re-emergence to prominence of Okaegheles”. These youth leaders, once appointees of community elders, have now constituted themselves into a powerful force on land matters. In some areas, they act with the tacit support of dukes and elders. Where they are resisted, they force themselves on communities, allocate and sell lands, and remit whatever they deem adequate.
Complaints have become rampant. Developers report that agents of these youth leaders physically stop construction work and extort money before allowing projects to continue. “Their activities have become exploitative, characterised by land grabbing, unlawful levies, intimidation of developers and investors, and even acts of violence within communities,” one observer noted.
A crisis within a crisis
Nowhere has the problem been more acute than in Oke-Oroma and Obagie-Nevbosa communities, where a land distribution crisis has spiralled into open conflict.
The trouble began when community leaders, families, and individuals sold and allocated lands in these areas for private and commercial purposes. The administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki, discovering the lands were government reserves, confiscated them and demolished existing buildings. The situation worsened when it emerged that the same lands had been re-allocated to private concerns.
The administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo took a different approach, deciding to return the land to the original owners. But this created new chaos, with ownership claims multiplying to the point where they far exceeded available land.
Government draws the line
Last weekend, the Edo State government declared an end to what it called “decades of land racketeering”.
Dr. Innocent Bello, Managing Director of the Edo State Geographic Information Service (EDOGIS), summoned Mr. Gaius Emokpae and nine others before the Government Land Restitution Committee over allegations of illegal multiple sales and encroachment on government-acquired land at Oke-Oroma and Obagie-N’Evbuosa.
Bello was unequivocal: “The allocation, registration, and administration of government-controlled land remain the exclusive lawful preserve of the Edo State government and its designated institutions”. No individual, family, community, traditional group, or self-appointed land committee has the authority to act as a substitute for government.
The government, Bello said, had carried out forensic examination of documents submitted by developers. Some individuals, he alleged, had sold portions of land to multiple buyers and were still attempting to resell the same parcels or mobilise community members to harass developers who followed due process.
The proceeds of fraud
In unusually direct language, Bello accused land grabbers, “especially in Oke-Oroma” of using proceeds from multiple sales to buy vehicles, live outside Benin (particularly in Abuja), send their children abroad, and then use the balance to “foment troubles, threaten developers, and captivate government and government functionaries.”
“They did this during the era of Obaseki and are also using the same template to rubbish the government in this administration,” he said. “The gentility of the present administration should not be taken as weakness.”
A community caught in the crossfire
For ordinary residents and developers, the crisis has been devastating. In 2022, over 100 buildings were demolished in the land reclamation drive. Pensioners staged protests, some invoking curses on the then-governor. The return of 2,950 plots to 1,550 victims under the Okpebholo administration has brought some relief, but the battle over who truly owns what continues.
The government has now given those summoned three days to appear before the Restitution Committee and provide a comprehensive account of their transactions, including dates, sums received, and how the proceeds were spent.
The road ahead
Bello’s message was clear: “The era of engaging in land racketeering, selling government acquisition and private or public land as a means of survival is over in Edo State”.
“Government land is protected,” he declared. “Legitimate investors are protected. The rule of law will prevail”.
For developers who had hoped the Oba’s 2016 pronouncement would be the end of their nightmares, the emergence of the Okaighele as the new power brokers has been a cruel twist. But with the state government now drawing a firm line, there is cautious hope that this time, the change might be permanent. After all, in Benin Kingdom, the land has always been more than just earth, it is heritage, livelihood, and identity. And those who would turn it into a tool for extortion may finally be running out of ground to stand on.
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