Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

The Sogunro Family of Itele Ota in Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State has disclaimed four residents of Sogunro village who instituted legal action against former President Olusegun Obasanjo over land ownership.

The litigants, including Chief Nurudeen Akanbi Akapo, Sunday Mathew Owotolu, Taoreed Momodu Dada and Monsuru Ashifatu Yusuf had dragged Obasanjo, his brother, Abraham Idowu Akanle, and wife before the state high court in Ota over alleged defective documents on the expanse of land at Itele, Sogunro village, among other cited anomalies.

But the Sogunro family, led by Hon Sunday Sogunro, at a press conference in Ota at the weekend, dismissed the litigants, declaring that they were not part of the family and have no right to take the former president and his brother to court in whatever capacity.

Accompanied by other members of the family, Sogunro said the development came to the notice of the family with “a rude shock”, which prompted an investigation by the family.

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He added that after the investigation, it was discovered that those behind the court case were not part of the Sogunro family, a claim the press conference was organised to clarify.

“We cannot fold our arms and allow some strange people to come and subject this family name to ridicule. We are condemning this in its entirety.

“The litigants, Chief Nurudeen Akanbi Akapo, Sunday Mathew Owotolu, Taoreed Momodu Dada and Monsuru Ashifatu Yusuf from what we read in the newspapers were not part of Sogunro family, so we wonder why they will say the case against Baba Obasanjo, his brother, Chief Akanle, and Mama Akanle is over Sogunro village, which we are bona fide members and we would not know anything about it”? he queried.

Sogunro, responding to questions about whether the news conference was not a reaction to pressure, declared that “such cannot happen. “Succumb to which pressure? I have just told you that we carried out our investigation and discovered that no member of this family was part of the case against Obasanjo and you want us to keep quiet?

“We have to come to the public to expose the desperation of these people and that is all. In Yoruba saying, you don’t shave a person’s head in his absence. The Sogunro family cannot be under any pressure to say what is not true,” he stated.