About a year after the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers ruled in his favour over his late father’s property that was illegally sold by a faction of the Eletu-Odibo family, UK-based Oluwole Akinsanmi Lofinmakin cannot understand why he is still unable to take possession. He is alleging connivance with some elements within the police to frustrate him. GBOYEGA ALAKA reports.
WHAT next after the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers has delivered judgment over a land tussle?
This is the question on the lips of UK-based Oluwole Akinsanmi Lofinmakin, who is alleging a conspiracy to deny him possession of his family land, which he and his siblings inherited from their late father, Abraham Akinsanmi Lofinmakin, even after the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers has ruled.
He cannot understand why the police, which is supposed to enforce such judgement have not moved in to help him take peaceful possession of his inherited property situated on No 10 Obadina Street, Abule Oja, Lagos. This, especially after the Task Force on Land Grabbers have recommended to the Inspector General of Police to “Kindly render all possible security assistance to the petitioner (Oluwole Akinsanmi Lofinmakin) to take peaceful and quiet possession of the above-mentioned property.”
Lofinmakin alleged that his late father’s property had been illegally sold by a faction of the Eletu Odibo Family, who are overall land owning family of the area, represented by Kobomoje Chambers, Lagos Island, in connivance with some imposters, who call themselves Olofinmakin and who are claiming to be his family members.
He said the inability of the said ‘family members’ to differentiate his real family name, Lofinmakin, from Olofinmakin, clearly shows they are not related to him in any way. Besides, he said he does not know them and has never met them. He said even their claim that the family is from Abeokuta further pulls the carpet from under their feet, as his family actually hails from Ondo.
Lofinmakin, who is eldest of the family and who brandished a court judgement that purportedly gave him the power to administer the property, also does not understand why the agent, Sunday Adeoye, would midwife the sale of a property, when there is a house on it and when he is not in possession of the original documents.
Above all, Lofinmakin is alleging conspiracy with the police to foot-drag and hence deny him ‘peaceful and quiet’ possession as recommended by the task force on land grabbers. He is justifying this, especially with the seeming insistence of the buyer, Onah Hyacinth in taking the case to Zone 2 Police Command headquarters, Onikan, even when it was originally being investigated at The Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja.
He cited another occasion at the onset of the matter, when Onah moved the case from Panti to Zone 2, asking “Why Zone 2, if he does not have special confidence or assurance there?”
But the Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Dolapo Badmus, while responding to enquiries from this reporter in her office in Onikan, said, “The police has no jurisdiction over land matters. It is the court that will decide. The police does not have the right to take possession, hence our decision to let both parties settle the matter in court. Ours is to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order, hence both parties have been warned to maintain the peace, while the court goes about its duties.
Moreover, she explained that Onah has filed a case in court in which even the police was joined in the suit.
He is not the first born – Onah’s counsel
When contacted on the matter, Counsel to Onah, Barrister Andrew Nweke, said he does not understand why Mr. Lofinmakin is resorting to media trial, even when he is well aware that the matter has been taken to court.
He said Oluwole Akinsanmi Lofinmakin is a man who has lived many years abroad but who has siblings who have equal rights as him over the said property/land.
He said, “The father actually leased the land on a customary lease from the Eletu Odibo Family and were therefore supposed to be paying customary rent, but which they had stopped paying even before the death of their father; and failure to pay the rent is a breach of the provision of the customary lease.
“So, when some of the siblings who were based in Nigeria made attempts to sell the property, the Eletu Odibo Family said, ‘No, you cannot sell,’ because they didn’t even have the documents. So they said if you are tired of paying the customary lease, we would sell it jointly and compensate you for the building on it, which was in a dilapidated state. That was the agreement, not knowing that there is another beneficiary elsewhere.”
When reminded of Lofinmakin’s claim that he is the firstborn and authentic administrator of the property, having got a court judgement to that effect during an earlier dispute with his younger brother, Olubunmi Lofinmakin, Nweke asked, “Who told him he is the first born, when his father had several other children outside?”
Nweke also said Lofinmakin “may be walking into trouble”, with such claims.
Regarding the judgement of the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers, the lawyer again scoffed, saying, “The Task Force on Land Grabbers’ is an administrative body, which is only about omonile matter and not about property. What we have on ground is about contest of ownership of a property. The land was surrendered to the Eletu Odibo Family by his siblings.”
On the dispute with the authenticity of the said siblings, whose name, Olofinmakin, Lofinmakin says is not the same as his family’s, Nweke again asked, “What’s the difference? It’s a matter of semantics. When people go abroad, they sometimes change their names; like in Igbo, where Nzeh becomes Arinzeh. The issue is, are people who sold the property his siblings? Let him wait and let the court decide.”
Similarly, Sunday Adeoye, the agent who allegedly oversaw the sale of the land, insisted that Akinsanmi Lofinmakin has siblings from other mothers, who equally have rights to the property.
Like Nweke, Adeoye, who claimed he has been in property business for 18 years, said there is no difference between Olofinmakin and Lofinmakin, stressing that what’s important at the moment is a way out of the quagmire. “Let’s find the truth and settle amicably. But if he doesn’t want settlement, then he should let us continue with the court process. The Eletu Odibo family are ready to face him.”
He accused Lofinmakin of acting like an American, stating that “His father had four wives and he can therefore not be carrying on as if he alone owns the property.”
Onah not willing to admit he’s been swindled – Lofinmakin’s lawyer
Reacting, counsel to Oluwole Akinsanmi Lofinmakin, Babajide Somorin of Eminence Chambers, Yaba, Lagos, said “Onah’s position, despite the Task Force on Land Grabbers’ ruling and other overwhelming evidence, is that he owns the place.
“Obviously, he doesn’t want to swallow the truth that he has been swindled. Maybe he needs someone to force it down his throat.
“He is also looking at the option of making an offer to buy it again from my client, although I’ve not followed this up with his lawyer. My client, Mr. Lofinmakin is the head of the family and he has a court judgement to that effect; so the property remains the family’s. They are not ready to sell, and the only option available to Mr. Onah is to find how he can recover his money from the people who sold the land to him, because they are land grabbers.” Somorin said.
Somorin commended the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers “for doing a great job. They made recommendations that those who sold the land be arrested, that they are land grabbers. They are a faction of the Eletu Odibo family but they have no right to sell the place because it doesn’t belong to them. The Eletu Odibo family sold the land to Mr. Lofinmakin’s father in 1958 and he has the original receipt dated 2/9/58 and signed by the then Eletu Odibo, Chief Amusa Gbadesere and witnessed by one Bello Latunde Eletu.
He said “Onah decided to go to court, when he saw that he has lost the case at the Land Grabbers’. Aside selling the land, there is also the aspect of the demolished property, which my client is not taking lightly.
“In any case,” Somorin said, “Onah was the one who went to court but we also counter-claimed. The case is before Hon. Justice Alakija of High Court (TBS Annex), and we are looking at the adjourned date of October 23, 2019 for the next hearing.
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