Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A royal family in Ogun state, Shomolu-Okusheinde in Ibasa Ajegunle, Araromi-Magboro in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, has petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, over the alleged use of police officers from the Ogun State Police Command to terrorise landlords in the area.
The petition signed by family secretary Mr Kotoye Okanlawon alleges that the former family lawyer, one Olusegun Raji, and a land agent, Lawrence Olufemi Ogunseye, have been conniving with police officers to execute a Supreme Court judgement fraudulently obtained by the family.
In the petition, which was copied to the Office of the Inspector General of Police, the Ogun State House of Assembly, the Office of the State Governor and the Office of the Assistant Inspector of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Lagos, the family further alleged that the duo recruited hoodlums into the fraudulently acquired family land where they terrorised landlords and demolished their property.
Mr Okanlawon urged the police authority to intervene in the matter and arrest the former family lawyer and agent for unleashing terror on the community, saying they would be forced to take laws into their hands and defend themselves against the ‘land grabbers’ if the state does not intervene.
He argued that their resolve to resort to self-defence is based on the alleged violence meted out on a member of the family, Gafar Yeku, as a result of Raji and Ogunseye leading hoodlums to fraudulently implement the Supreme Court judgment on the land.
The family secretary noted that despite the Power of Attorney hitherto bestowed on Raji and the agent had been revoked since May 11th due to their mobilising of hoodlums on the family land and the fraudulent manner at which they had been executing the Supreme Court judgment, the duo continued to carry illegal activities on the land.
‘Despite the revocation of the Power of Attorney granted Olusegun Raji and Lawrence Ogunsanya, they have continually stationed armed thugs led by Muibi Animashaun, Debisi Ibafo and some hoodlums with the mandate to kill any of our family members sighted on our land. Some of the hoodlums – Tekobo Sunday, Osho Odeneye Adeyemi and Adeyemi Mutiu – who are parading themselves as heads of our family have been colluding with Raji and Ogunsanya to terrorise us and later brutalised Yeku.
‘It was, however, disturbing that despite the arrest and charging the suspects to court, the suspects on the 22nd May 2020, invaded our site again and led by police operatives from D4 Section of the state Command in Eleweeran, Abeokuta, without any court demolition order, destroyed valuable structure on the site, vandalised property of innocent landlords of our land sold in the past and deposited a heap of sand at the entrance gate of an hotel owned by one of the landlords, thereby restricting and obstructing people’s movement in and out of his hotel.
“As law-abiding citizens, we do not want to take laws into our hands, hence, we decided to seek for your office’s intervention and protection from these hoodlums and police officers who have arrested some of our workers and family members namely Gafar Yeku, Tope Soretire, Waheed Salaudeen and Gafar Daramola. The hoodlums are still laying siege to our land, using our Supreme Court judgment fraudulently to exploit innocent landlords in our family name,’ he petition concluded.