"Land guards" is the name given to armed or intimidating groups who enforce a disputed claim to land on behalf of whoever is paying them — sometimes a legitimate owner protecting their plot, more often a party with a weak or fabricated claim trying to scare off a buyer or a rightful owner before the courts can settle anything. Understanding the setups they get hired to protect is more useful than worrying about the guards themselves, because every one of these setups leaves a trace in a proper search.
The double sale
The same parcel is sold to two or more buyers, often months apart, sometimes by the same seller and sometimes by different people each claiming to be the rightful owner. Whoever registers first generally has the stronger legal claim, regardless of who paid first — which is exactly why a title search that confirms nothing is currently on record for a different buyer, and prompt registration once you do buy, matter more than how convincing the seller sounds.
The unconsented family sale
Family land is not owned by one person. A family head who sells without the knowledge or agreement of the other principal members has sold something he didn't have full authority to sell, and the other family members can challenge it later — sometimes years later, once a house is already built. This is why proper due diligence identifies who the principal members actually are for a specific parcel, not just who shows up to sign.
The fabricated or altered document
Site plans and indentures can be altered, copied from a different parcel, or invented outright. A registry search cross-checks the document against what the Lands Commission actually has on file for that parcel — the reference number, the registered owner, and the boundary coordinates — rather than trusting the paper in front of you.
The boundary that moves
A seller shows you one boundary on a walk-through and a slightly different one on the site plan, banking on the buyer never actually measuring it. A licensed surveyor's job is exactly this: confirm the pegs on the ground match the coordinates on the registered site plan, before you build anything on land that might not be entirely yours.
Why this matters more the further you are from the site
Every one of these schemes depends on the buyer not checking — which is why diaspora buyers and busy local buyers who can't personally visit the site or the registry are disproportionately targeted. An independent search closes that gap regardless of where you're buying from.