The Lagos State Government has put in place, via the Lagos Tenancy and Recovery of Premises Bill 2025, a draft law to regulate unlawful evictions without a valid court order, harassment, and arbitrary rent increases by house owners. The bill states clearly that landlords can no longer use self-help measures such as cutting utilities or dismantling parts of buildings, which are now expressly criminalized. Section 10 of the bill places a firm obligation on landlords to respect a tenant’s right to quietly and peacefully enjoy their home, prohibiting actions that interfere with basic living conditions.

The Supreme Court has overridden the pardon granted by President Bola Tinubu to an Abuja-based housewife, Maryam Sanda, who was in 2020 sentenced to death by hanging for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic dispute. President Tinubu had reduced Sanda’s sentence to 12 years imprisonment on compassionate grounds in October when the clemency list was amended. The decision followed a review process that initially included 175 names before several were removed due to what the presidency described as the “nature of their crime.”