MONROVIA – The long-running Saye Town land dispute has taken a sharper turn as residents claiming lawful ownership publicly challenged narratives portraying them as squatters, raising serious questions about land acquisition, court enforcement, and due process. Journalist Julius Jeh, providing an update on the saga, revealed that so-called “aggrieved victims” appeared on OK Conversation on OKFM 99.5 and OKTV, insisting they are legitimate landowners whose families purchased the properties decades ago.
According to Jeh’s account, the residents told the program that their parents bought the land in the 1980s from the late Madam Victoria Johnson-Maxwell. To support their claims, some residents produced copies of deeds dating back to 1985 and 1989, documents that directly contradict assertions that they are illegal occupants or recent settlers.
Jeh explained that the dispute originally centered on a court case between two families, the Intestate Estate of Thomas Wesley Philips and the Victoria Johnson-Maxwell family, represented by their respective legal authorities. That case, the residents said, was decided in favor of the Johnson-Maxwell family, from whom they lawfully acquired their land. Because of this ruling, they said they had no reason to fear eviction until recent developments.
The residents further disclosed that they are unaware of how businessman Eric Filor Nagbe Sr. became linked to the land or who allegedly sold it to him. They maintained that they were never parties to any transaction involving Nagbe and that no representative of the Victoria Johnson-Maxwell family had ever approached them to challenge their ownership. Jeh also noted that Jessie Payne, who once administered the Johnson estate, died several years ago.
Central to the controversy is a court document dated January 8, 2026, which the residents presented to Jeh. The document reportedly instructs the Johnson-Maxwell family to reclaim land through ejectment but does not clearly specify the exact parcels affected. Importantly, it orders that any ejectment be carried out with the aid of a registered and licensed surveyor, a requirement that has now become a focal point of contention.
The residents alleged that any sale of the land in 2017, as claimed by Nagbe, would amount to a criminal double sale, since their families acquired the properties decades earlier. They further argued that individuals Nagbe claimed to have settled may have been tenants rather than legitimate landowners, a point Jeh said Nagbe did not dispute during their exchanges.
In response to these claims, Jeh quoted Nagbe as saying he acquired the property in 2017 and visited the community in November 2025 to inform residents of impending actions. Nagbe said he offered relocation assistance to anyone willing to move, advised those with legal claims to file a Bill of Information before the courts, and warned that eviction would follow if neither option was pursued.
Nagbe defended his actions by stressing that the courts were available to the residents and that he could not personally verify who held deeds. He argued that advising residents to seek legal redress was already against his own interest but that he did so anyway. “They cannot blame me, actually. I did my best,” he told Jeh.
However, Jeh reported that Nagbe did not dispute the court ejectment document shown by the residents and was unclear when asked whether a licensed surveyor was involved before demolition and eviction activities. While Nagbe acknowledged that a survey was conducted prior to his acquisition, he did not clearly state when it occurred or whether the community was informed.
Jeh concluded that critical gaps remain unresolved, including the identity of the individual or entity that sold the land to Nagbe. Until that link is established and the survey and court procedures are fully clarified, the Saye Town land dispute is likely to intensify, with questions of legality, ownership, and justice still hanging in the balance as investigations continue.
