The Rivers State government has embarked on measures aimed at tackling the growing incidence of land grabbing in the state.
These measures include: digitising survey pillars online and hosting its survey manager on the Cloud.
Peter Ogolo, state surveyor general, while speaking at the 2026 Global Surveyors Day held at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, described land-grab as an evil that will soon come to an end in the state.
Ogolo noted that the state government has put in place measures to curb cases of land grabbing.
He said: “The land grabbing concept can really not take place without surveyors. So, upon my assumption as the surveyor general of the state, I’ve called a meeting of stakeholders. I’ve called the fellows of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, the excos of NIS, Women in Surveying, and the Young Surveyors Network.”
“I also spoke with the Practising Surveyors Network, and we’ve all agreed that we will never cooperate with these evil people. Of course, for us, it’s evil. Sometimes they deceive the surveyor and say, ‘Come, I have property in this place.’ The surveyor will go innocently.”
“But now, we have put measures in place. Between last year, when I came on board, and now, they (grabbers) have not found it easy. Land grabbing is already almost nipped in the bud,” he said.
Ogolo also said the state government is working with professionals in the built sector as a way of putting an end to nefarious activities in the sector.
“As it is now, Rivers State is the only state in the entire South-South that has hosted its survey pillars online. Others are asking how. By God’s grace, we have hosted our survey manager on the Cloud.”
“Anybody who wants to be defrauded by anyone does so at their own risk, because now we have a website where you can contact the surveyor of your choice. So, the issue of quackery is over—every surveyor now has a website, and we have one with their individual identifications,” he said.
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