The activities of land grabbing and forceful entry of land had assumed a very worrisome dimension in Edo state, particularly in the southern part of the state until the Edo State Private Properties Protection Law was enacted which gave birth to the Edo State Private Properties Protection Committee to address the worrisome menace.

The administration of Mr. Godwin Obaseki had setup an inaugural committee headed by a former Inspector General of Police, Dr. Solomon Arase who resigned honourably, perhaps due to so much politicization by some of the committee members thereby making a mockery of a supposed laudable exercise. The confidence on the committee by the people dwindled by the day until the appointment of Hon. Justice Alero Edodo-Eruaga (Retd) to head the committee

It was the appointment of Hon. Justice Alero Edodo-Eruaga (Retd) that became the watershed for hope and confidence restoration. A retired high court judge with such simplicity in disposition but firm in decision. Her approaches to issues before her are a mixture of law, diplomacy and mediation. What is key to her is getting justice for a victim of land grabbing and devising the most appropriate punitive option for a wrong doer. At the end of the day, the expected results are achieved without necessarily causing disaffection among parties.

Her model of arbitration and intervention are worth studying, because some of the petitions before the committee are dynamic in nature thereby may not require the straight-jacket approach so as not to create more damages thereafter. In many instances, restitutions are made, replacements are agreed upon. Timeframes are taken into consideration for amendment to be effected by disputing parties.

Politicization never had a place in the operations of the committee. Justice was served irrespective of who is involved. There were no interferences even from the governor of the state. Cases were treated on merit and justice done to all accordingly. Another good thing about the committee is that, it's cost effective and its services are free to citizens unlike the conventional court processes. It has a shorter period for dispute resolution compared to the regular court that takes years on land matters to be resolved.

I will recommend that the government of Sen. Monday Okpebholo reconstitute the committee as soon as possible and reappoint Hon. Justice Alero Edodo-Eruaga to continue to administer justice in dealing with the menace of land grabbing in the state. Furthermore, the committee should be empowered with a standing enforcement team to tackle the activities of CDAs in some communities who have raised own armed army to terrorize property owners.