Bolaji Okunola

Head and principal members of Adogun Atele family have sued Chief Abraham Idowu Akanle, and his wife, Taiwo Adenike Akanle, for allegedly trespassing on their family land.

The family land is known as IIiwo family, Sogunro village, Itele Awori, Ado Odo/ Ota Local Government area of Ogun State.

The claimants, Nurudeen Akanbi Akapo, Sunday Mathew Owotolu, Chief Taoreed Momodu Dada, and Alhaji Monsuru Ashifatu Yusuf, are seeking an order of Ogun State High Court restraining the defendants, who is also brother to former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, from further trespassing on the land in dispute.

The claimants, in suit number HCT/02/2020, prayed the court for an order directing the defendants, their agents and privies, to vacate the land in dispute.

The family is also seeking for a declaration that the defendants act of packing, collecting laterite on the land in dispute amount to trespass, illegal and null and void.

In a 41-page statement of claim, the claimants alleged that the defendants, acting under the disguise of protecting the defective title of Obasanjo’s land, brought tipper operators to collect laterite on their family land.

They stated that the defendants were strangers and not related to Adogun Atele family but were using the influence of Obasanjo to harass and intimidate the claimant’s family members.

They alleged that the first defendant misrepresented Obasanjo to harass and intimidate claimant’s family members should they complain about illegal collection of laterite on the disputed land.

The claimants averred that the first defendant has been the root of all crisis in Itele by giving false information to the former president Obasanjo.

They stated that they have obtained several court judgments over the land from which the former president allegedly bought from Ogungbemi Alagbeji family.

The claimants stated that they did not execute the judgments because of the understanding that at the appropriate time, the former president will approach them for settlement.

The claimants added that they were shocked to read in the newspapers where the 1st defendant allegedly claimed that he had spent over a billion naira on Itele crisis, stressing that neither the first defendant nor former President Obasanjo spent any amount on their family.

The claimants maintained that the land in dispute forms a small portion of vast expanse of land first settled upon by their ancestors with several judicial authorities affirming the Adogun Atele family as the rightful owner of the disputed land.