the party whose land is squatted on has twelve (12) years to bring an action before a court. However, in few States like Benue, Rivers and Bayelsa, the period has been reduced to ten (10) years to approach the court to assert title. If the land belongs to the government or any of its agencies, government has twenty (20) years to assert its right/title, thereafter, the claim becomes statute barred. Time begins to count from the day the squatter enters into the land – page 430 of Chianu on Trespass. The court takes cognizance of the time of entry to the time when the matter is brought to the court, not the time the owner started to protest. The squatter must prove that he has stayed on the land for twelve years (or ten years in the case of Benue, Rivers and Bayelsa States). Where government acquires land and thereafter transfers same to a third party contrary to the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978, time begins to run from the date of transfer, not the date of acquisition. One very important ingredient for the successful plea of this statute is the fact that the squatter‟s possession must be adverse, i.e. it must be against the interest of the owner. In effect, if the squatter stays on the land with the permission of the legal owner of the land, he cannot rely on the limitation of action because he is staying as a tenant for value or a licensee and not adverse to the interest of the owner. Adverse possession is sometimes colloquially described as squatter‟s right. It is a legal principle that applies when a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property (land) attempts to claim legal ownership based upon a history of possession or occupation of the land without the permission of its legal owner. For a squatter to prove ownership, he must be an