Drive through Abuja, Lagos or Port Harcourt today, and you will see the same thing: a new real estate company on every other billboard, flyers at traffic lights, glossy adverts on Instagram. Some of these firms are genuine and well run. Others are not. For the ordinary buyer, who has saved for years, telling the two apart has become the hardest part of owning land.

A Flyer Is Not a Title

The latest case making the rounds is Livebridge Metro City in Idu, Abuja. According to reports published this week, investors say they bought plots after seeing promotional flyers that described the land as having "FCDA allocation". Some were allegedly handed building plans and letters authorising them to go to site, and a few say they were pressed to start building or risk losing their plots. Their houses have now been marked and demolished by development control officials.

These are allegations, made by affected buyers and a social media commentator, not findings of a court, and the company's side has not been widely reported. But the lesson stands, whatever the outcome. A sentence on a flyer is not a document. An allocation only counts if it exists in the government's own records, and the person selling to you is the last one to ask.

Abuja's regulators say the same thing. Officials of the Federal Housing Authority, after demolishing nine uncompleted houses in Gwarimpa this year, told buyers they should be able to show original allocation letters. The director of AGIS has urged residents to confirm every title with the FCT land administration records before transacting, especially titles advertised on social media.

When Even the Paperwork Is Fake

Documents themselves can lie. In an ongoing case before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the EFCC alleges that an estate agent and two real estate companies collected more than ₦500 million from buyers between 2023 and 2024 using forged documents, including fake Powers of Attorney, for plots in Guzape and Katampe. One witness told the court he lost ₦62 million on two Katampe plots whose titles had allegedly vanished from AGIS records. The defendants have not been convicted, and the trial continues.

On 28 October 2026, a different court did convict someone: a staff member of the FCDA, found guilty on all five counts of defrauding a buyer over two Kubwa plots with forged conveyance documents. The buyer had asked if the papers were real. The seller said yes, and his job at the FCDA made that sound believable. The buyer paid.

Three cases, one pattern: buyers trusted the seller's word, the seller's flyer or the seller's position, and checked nothing independently.

The Checks That Protect You

No single step is enough. Run all of them, and run them before any money moves.

Check the company. Search the firm at the Corporate Affairs Commission. Confirm it is registered, see who its directors are, and check for any charge on its assets. Ask which professional or regulatory body registers it, for example, ESVARBON for estate surveyors and valuers or a state real estate regulator such as LASRERA in Lagos, and confirm that independently.
Ask for the original title documents. A Certificate of Occupancy, registered Deed of Assignment, Governor's Consent where required, and an approved survey plan. A brochure, a receipt or "C of O in progress" is not a title.
Search the land registry yourself. In Abuja, that means an official land title search through AGIS and the FCT Department of Land Administration. In Lagos, the Lagos State Land Registry is at the Alausa Secretariat in Ikeja; use it to verify title documents like a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) or Deed of Assignment and check for encumbrances or mortgages. Use your own lawyer, not the seller's, so the answer comes directly to you.
Have the land charted by a registered surveyor. The surveyor picks the coordinates on site, and the survey is checked at the Surveyor-General's office to confirm the plot is not under government acquisition, inside a road or utility setback, or overlapping someone else's land.
Confirm approvals from the authority, not the seller. Layout approvals and building permits should be verified with the planning or development control office that supposedly issued them.
Inspect the site and ask around. Visit the land, talk to neighbours and local leaders, and have your lawyer check the court registry for pending cases.
Pay safely. Pay only into the company's corporate account, never a personal one. Insist on receipts, and make sure the Deed of Assignment is executed, stamped, and registered in your name.

A few warning signs deserve to stop you cold: pressure to pay a deposit today, refusal to let your lawyer or surveyor see the documents, vague phrases like "excision in process", and prices far below the neighbourhood rate.

None of this costs as much as one lost plot. Search fees and a surveyor's charting fee are small next to the millions that disappear when a building comes down.

NB: This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Use a qualified property lawyer for your own transaction.

For land charting and land survey by a registered and verified survey firm, Visit: OTIC SURVEYS LIMITED or call Daniel: 08085040541

Before You Pay a Real Estate Firm: How to Avoid Losing Your Land (and Your Savings) in Nigeria

Before You Pay a Real Estate Firm: How to Avoid Losing Your Land (and Your Savings) in Nigeria