Despite the existence of Lagos State Property Protection Law, 2016, land grabbers with the help of unscrupulous policemen and lawyers have continued their atrocities with reckless abandon, reports PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU
ALL was well with the landed properties of a retiree, Matthew Adeoye, at 30, Egbe-Idimu in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) until April 18 when land grabbers, accompanied by gun-toting policemen, laid their eyes on it. The property, owned by Adeoye since 2010, served as a parking lot for an events centre.
Following the lack of parking lot for the centre and the harassment from local government officials who usually trouble those that park their vehicles on the road, Adeoye agreed with his wife that once he received his retirement benefits from Guinness Nigeria, they would join resources to acquire a space around where their guests could park thier vehicles during events.
Fortunately in 2010 the couple got information that one Alhaji Bashiru Sekoni, who operated a block factory opposite the event centre, wanted to sell a portion of the land and they went for it.
According to Adeoye, shortly after buying the land the seller advised them to visit the Oba of Ejigbo and legal representatives of the Ashamu Estate and to pay necessary transfer fees which they did and received the monarch’s blessing as well as job card from Alhaji Almaroof.
The couple took possession of the property peacefully until April 18, when they watched all they had laboured for in their active years being taken away from them. From their seating positions at the event centre, they saw some men escorted by a vehicle load of armed policemen which stormed the parking lot and started uprooting the trees the couple planted years back.
Similarly, a widow Mrs. Uchenna Iwuoha, was allegedly robbed of her 17 slots at the International Trade Fair Market in Balogun, Ojo, after paying the stipulated amount and given all relevant receipts.
The woman, who has been devastated after losing her only investment, said her tormentors were influential people in the market union and they have refused to give her the space she paid for in 2006 or return her money.
In a petition to Lagos State Attorney-General dated August 26, Iwuoha, a mother of six children, said her travails began after she told one Augustin Ihiala to rent out her space since she was tending to her sick husband and could not continue her business at the time.
The woman said she obtained cubicles from the Association of Progressive Traders of Nigeria’s Modern Shopping Centre in 2006 when the place was half-built at N30,000 per cubicle and made payments to a designated bank.
Mrs. Iwuoha, who said she could not send her children to the university and was struggling to feed her family, wants the government to intervene in her situation by making those who deprived her of her properties hands-off.
How they operate
By the provisions of the property protection law, land grabbers and illegal occupants face between five and 21 years in prison upon conviction or an option of a fine subject to the discretion of the court. Despite this law, investigations by The Nation revealed that these criminals have high ranking security officers, especially policemen on their payroll. Once they locate a property of choice, these policemen will then deploy their boys and touts to the property to lay siege while blocks and other building materials are deployed to commence construction. Pliant lawyers and judges facilitate their action by issuing orders based on frivolous applications and forged documents in some instances.
According to the Adeoyes, their tormentors–Mayaki Suleiman, Tajudeen Muritala, Amodu Fatai and Adebusola Kester – were allegedly backed by a notorious traditional ruler and some members of the Ashamu family.
Findings also revealed that Suleiman was not a policeman, neither was he related to the former Inspector General of Police (IG) Ibrahim Idris (rtd), whose name he allegedly dropped at police formations to get officers for his illegal activity.
It was gathered that at a point the case was taken before the Area D Command headed by Soji Akinbayo, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) , who advised the encroachers to leave the couple alone.
Narrating their ordeal, Mr. Adeoye said: “On April 18, around 2pm, my wife and I were at our event centre. Looking across the road, we saw many vehicles with no plate numbers; a team of armed policemen dressed in Lagos SARS Scorpion T-Shirts and some men in mufti in front of the parking lot. Within minutes, some people jumped the fence, entered the parking area and broke the padlocks of the two entrances.
“At about 6pm that date, a man came to me and introduced himself as Mayaki. He said he is from Abuja and the leader of the armed policemen. He said I will now be taken outside the parking area so I should stand up and follow him. I asked where I was going? He answered by saying when we get there, I will know.
“He ordered me into his tinted Toyota car. He drove. A policeman in front while I was sandwiched between two other armed policemen at the back seat. A convoy car with two armed policemen and driven by someone in mufti followed us. After driving for about thirty minutes, he branched off the road and stopped in front of one building under renovation/construction. I was ordered out to follow them inside the building.
“On entering the building, we met some people readily waiting for us. One of them introduced himself as Tajudeen Muritala. He said he told them to bring me and that he already discussed that with the Oba of Ejigbo and they decided that the land at 30 Egbe-Ejigbo Road is gone; that I or anyone related to me must not go there to challenge anyone; the matter must not surface in the media; I need to sign an undertaking for him because he wants to be an Oba soon and his team will visit our event centre except I cooperated with them to renegotiate the purchase.
“After dropping me in front of the parking lot, I breathed a sigh of relief.”
Their quest for justice
With the help of their lawyer Dapo Sodiq, the Adeoyes on April 23, petitioned the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Zone Two, Onikan on their travails. They went to the zonal headquarters on several occasions with tenants of the shops they had attached to the fence of the parking lot who volunteered useful statements to aid their case.
The couple also filed a suit before the Lagos State High Court in May to seek repossession of their property, a matter that was still pending.
“To prove the point made when I was forcibly driven to his hotel on April 18, that Tajudeen Muritala is a principal actor in this land grabbing action, his colleague Kester also filed a suit on behalf of Tunde Ashamu challenging our ownership of the event centre. Tajudeen Muritala and his colleagues are bent on taking over what we have laboured for over the years.
“Our lawyer also wrote a petition to the land grabber Taskforce. Several meetings were called for us to meet with the principal actors in the land grabbing action specifically Tajudeen Muritala, Mayaki Suleiman and Fatai Amodu but on most occasions, they refused to show up in person. The only time Tajudeen Muritala showed up with Amodu Fatai, they promised the Taskforce Coordinator Barr Arole that before the next meeting the grabbed land would have been released to us but they never did.
“At the August meeting, they refused to show up, as usual, indicating that these guys think they are more powerful than the state. Then, we were to meet at the Taskforce on November 21 and when we got there, we saw the coordinator who asked us to wait for the other party.
“We waited from 9 am to 5 pm but none of them showed up only for a man dressed in mufti to appear that he was a policeman from IG Monitoring office in Abuja and was there to serve as a letter of invitation. He brought out the letter for us to read and ordered we sign an acknowledgement copy. Since we do not know the authenticity of the letter, his name nor designation, we called our lawyers who advised him to take the letter to the address on it.
“That if no one is there to receive it, he should paste it and take a photograph of it. The man left in annoyance with threats to deal with us. Till now, we have not seen any letter dropped or pasted in our office. We are wondering why this invitation in a case that investigation had been concluded?” he said.
When the monarch was contacted, he declined comments on the phone insisting that the reporter comes to his palace.
Suleiman denied threatening the couple, claiming he was only at the site once and it was at the instance of his friend Tunde Ashamu. He denied having anything to do with land grabbing, denying ever taking armed policemen to harass the Adeoyes.
Police, LASG react
A spokesman for the police, Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner (DCP) told our correspondent that investigation was ongoing on the matter, adding that the IG has directed a thorough probe to ascertain the level of involvement of policemen.
Also, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice at the weekend said an investigation into the issue has been ordered by the Attorney General Moyo Onigbanjo (SAN).
A statement by the ministry’s Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Kayode Oyekanmi said: “The attention of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice has been drawn to a video that has gone viral in the social media space of a couple, Mr. & Mrs. Adeoye from Ejigbo area of the state.
“In the video, a passionate appeal was made by the couple, requesting urgent intervention by authorities in an alleged case of encroachment on their property by land grabbers.
“In response to this appeal, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who is also the Chairman, of the State Special Task Force on Land Grabbers, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, has ordered the immediate and full investigation into the matter.
“He has also contacted and invited the couple involved in a meeting at the ministry for further clarifications. The attention of the Commissioner of Police has also been drawn to the alleged criminal activities of the individuals named in the video for appropriate actions.
“The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice wishes to assure residents that Justice will be served in this matter, while the Lagos State Government remains committed to the protection of all investments made in the state.”
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