What easement means
An easement is a right over land you do not own, for a defined purpose.
The classic example is a right of way: the owner of one plot may cross a neighbour's plot to reach the road. Others include the right to run drainage or a pipeline across neighbouring land, the right to run cables, and the right of support where buildings adjoin.
Two pieces of land are involved. The dominant tenement is the land that benefits. The servient tenement is the land that carries the burden. The right must genuinely benefit the dominant land rather than merely benefit its current owner personally.
The consequence of that is important. An easement runs with the land. Sell the plot and the new owner takes the benefit. Sell the burdened plot and the new owner takes the burden, provided the easement was properly created and, where required, registered.
How it is used
Most Nigerian easements arise when land is divided.
A family or a developer splits a large parcel into plots. Some of those plots have no direct road frontage, and access has to come across a neighbouring plot. If nothing is written down, the owner of the interior plot is depending on the goodwill of whoever owns the plot in front, and goodwill has a way of expiring when the land changes hands or becomes valuable.
The answer is to create the right expressly, in the deed. A grant, where the seller gives the buyer a right over land the seller retains. Or a reservation, where the seller keeps a right over the land being sold.
An express easement should describe the route precisely, ideally by reference to the survey plan, state the purpose and any limits such as vehicular or pedestrian, deal with who maintains it and pays for that, and say whether it is exclusive.
Easements can also arise by long use over time, and by implication where a right is necessary for the enjoyment of land, but relying on those is a far worse position than relying on a clause.
Key features
- A right to use another person's land for a defined purpose
- Requires a benefited plot and a burdened plot
- Runs with the land rather than with the person
- Created expressly by grant or reservation, or by implication or long use
- Should be described by reference to the survey plan
- Distinct from a licence, which is personal and revocable
How this works in Nigeria
The landlocked plot is the everyday Nigerian version of this problem, and it is common because so much land is sold in pieces by families and small developers.
A buyer inspects a plot, sees a track leading to it, and assumes access. The track crosses a neighbouring plot, nobody granted anything, and two years later the neighbour fences their boundary. The buyer then has land they cannot reach and a dispute that could have been prevented by one paragraph in the deed.
The practical checks before buying are simple. Look at how you actually reach the plot on the ground. Compare that with the survey plan. If access crosses land you are not buying, ask what right exists, and require an express easement in the deed with the route marked on the plan.
Drainage is the second Nigerian flashpoint. Water running from one plot across another produces long neighbour disputes, and where the right was never granted the claim becomes a nuisance action rather than an easement question.
Registration matters too. An easement created by deed should be included in what is registered, so it binds successors rather than depending on their cooperation.
Easement vs licence vs covenant
Three ways somebody can be entitled to do something on or about another person's land.
An easement is a property right. It benefits land rather than a person, it passes to successive owners, and it cannot simply be withdrawn.
A licence is personal permission. Your neighbour lets you park on their land. It binds only them, it does not pass to a buyer of their plot, and it can generally be revoked. Many Nigerian access arrangements are licences that everybody assumed were easements.
A covenant is a promise about how land will be used, such as a promise not to build above two floors or not to run a commercial business. It restricts rather than grants use, and restrictive covenants can bind successors in defined circumstances.
If you need access to reach your plot, you need an easement. A friendly arrangement with the current neighbour is a licence, and it ends the day they sell.
Limits and risks
An easement is limited to its stated purpose. A pedestrian right of way does not become a vehicular one because the holder later bought a car, and exceeding the scope is itself actionable.
Creating one by long use is uncertain and evidentially difficult, requiring proof of use of a particular character over a long period, which most Nigerian claimants cannot assemble.
An unregistered easement may fail against a later purchaser of the burdened land who had no notice of it.
Maintenance is a frequent gap. Where the deed says nothing, arguments about who repairs and pays for the access road follow, and they are surprisingly bitter for the sums involved.
Worth knowing
If the plot you are buying is reached across land you are not buying, do not pay until the right of way is written into the deed and marked on the survey plan. A track that exists today is not a right, and the fence goes up after the money has changed hands.
Questions people ask
What is an easement?
A right to use somebody else's land for a defined purpose, such as a right of way, drainage or running cables. It benefits one plot and burdens another, and it passes with the land to future owners.
How is a right of way created in Nigeria?
Most reliably by express grant or reservation in the deed, describing the route by reference to the survey plan. Rights can also arise by implication or long use, but proving those is far harder than relying on a clause.
What happens if my land has no road access?
You need a right of way over the neighbouring land, granted in writing. A track you currently use without a grant is a licence at best, and it can be closed off when the neighbouring plot changes hands.
What is the difference between an easement and a licence?
An easement is a property right benefiting land and binding successive owners. A licence is personal permission that binds only the person who gave it and generally ends when they sell.
Who maintains a right of way?
Whoever the deed says. Where it is silent, disputes follow, so the easement clause should state who repairs the access and how the cost is shared.
Does an easement need to be registered?
It should be included in what is registered with the deed. An unregistered easement can fail against a later purchaser of the burdened land who had no notice of it.