Squatter

In Nigeria the word gets used loosely for anybody occupying property the speaker thinks should leave, including relatives who overstayed, former tenants and caretakers who will not hand back keys.

The distinction matters because it decides the process. A tenant, even one who has stopped paying, is entitled to the statutory notices before possession can be recovered. Someone who never had a tenancy is in a different position, though the owner still has to go through the court rather than take the property back by force.

Self help is the trap here as much as in ordinary tenancy. However clearly somebody is in the wrong, using force, hired men, or cutting utilities exposes the owner to serious liability and can turn a straightforward recovery into a criminal complaint against the owner.

The correct route is legal action for recovery of possession, supported by evidence of the owner's title and of the occupier's lack of any right.

Prompt action also matters because delay weakens an owner's position, both practically and in relation to arguments about long undisturbed occupation.

A tenant holding over had a tenancy that ended and simply stayed on. They entered lawfully, so the landlord must use the tenancy process, meaning a notice to quit where required, then the seven day notice, then court.

A squatter never had permission at all. There is no tenancy to end, so the owner is claiming possession against a trespasser rather than terminating a relationship.

Getting the classification wrong wastes months. Treating a former tenant as a squatter, and skipping the statutory notices, is a common way for landlords to lose cases they would otherwise have won.

An owner cannot remove a squatter personally, and cannot instruct anyone else to. The remedy is through the court.

Owners of vacant land also face the practical problem that occupation can go unnoticed for years. Regular inspection, fencing, signage and prompt action are worth far more than any legal argument raised late.