Sanwo-Olu Hands Over Land Allocation Letters to 98 Indigenous Communities in Ito-Omu Project Area
The Lagos governor described the handover as a settlement of a long-standing question of belonging for families inside the Ito-Omu scheme in Epe.
By Adeola Bakare · 10 September 2026 · Epe, Lagos
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has handed over land allocation letters to 98 indigenous communities within the Ito-Omu project area, formally recognising holdings that families in the Epe corridor have occupied for generations without documentation.
The ceremony brought together traditional rulers, community development association leaders and officials of the Lagos State Lands Bureau. Each community received documentation covering allocated parcels inside the scheme, alongside guidance on the next steps toward registered titles.
"This is not a favour. It is a restoration," the governor told the gathering, adding that the state intends the Ito-Omu scheme to grow around its host communities rather than displace them.
Community leaders welcomed the move while pressing for clarity on boundary demarcation, compensation for farmland already taken up by ongoing works, and a published timeline for converting allocation letters into Certificates of Occupancy.
The Ito-Omu area sits along the fast-changing Epe axis, where the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the Dangote refinery complex and the Lekki-Epe corridor road programme have pushed land values sharply upward since 2023.
Officials say the allocation exercise will be followed by a verification window in which each benefiting community must present its register of family representatives to the Lands Bureau.