• Say candidate has ongoing murder case
• Tell them to produce case number and court where case is ongoing, monarch fires back
• Insists Igbokuta is under his jurisdiction and he has power to anoint their king
It’s not the best of time at Igbokuta, a suburb community in Ikorodu Local Government area of Lagos. They have a grouse with the traditional ruler of Imota, Oba Ajibade Agoro, the Ranodu of Imota, whom they accuse of selecting and trying to impose a murder accused as Oba over their community.
The murder accused whom they say Oba Agoro has elected, they claim, is Nosiru Jimoh Olayiwola popularly known as Lai, whom they allege shot and killed one Azeez Shonaya in the full glare of many in the community on the second of July 2008, following some incidents. They are also claiming that Oba Agoro is monarch of Imota, a neighbouring community, and his jurisdiction does not extend to Igbokuta, hence he does not have the power to select a king over them.
To make matters worse, they claim that Lai’s case is still ongoing, and wonder why the Oba should nominate such a person for a throne.
According to Akinwunmi Aliu Babangida, who said he is brother to the murdered Azeez, his late brother had followed one Hamat to the station, following the arrest of Lai over some land-grabbing activity. “There at the station, he accused Azeez of daring to be part of a plot to arrest him and threatened to deal with him once he came out. Later that evening, Lai was released and no-one gave a thought to his threat. The following day, my dad was outside our house having a discussion with Azeez, Ganiu and Muse. Suddenly, Lai approached with a gun and shot at them. That shot killed Azeez. It also blinded Ganiu, while others sustained injuries.
“After Lai shot Azeez, Ahmat, our secretary called the police. The police arrested Lai and took him away, but of course Azeez died. The whole town scattered, because such event had never happened in our community before.”
One of the elders in the community, Benson Ayodele Ige popularly known as Iroko, who is family head for the family of Abraham Oni/Osunloye, corroborated the incident but added that what amazed him was that despite all evidences such as the murder weapon, witnesses, doctors report, and thorough police investigation, the accused has not been convicted in court almost 18 years after.
“The judge then was Justice Onigbanjo. For like twelve years that we were going back and forth in court, Onigbanjo was not able to deliver justice on the case. Sometimes we went to court just twice in a whole year. Sometimes, thrice. Most times, he adjourned for up to four, five or six months. On some hearing days, we would just discover that there is power outage in the court, and everywhere would be so dark that the judge would not even be able to write. He would then adjourn. That was how they did for about twelve years before Onigbanjo retired. After about a year, they assigned the case to Justice Oshodi. That’s where we have been up till this moment. The same lawyer that was using all sorts of antics to delay the case is the same lawyer in charge and still employing different antics.
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“Even the fact that someone with a murder case on his head with such heavy evidences was released on bail and allowed to gallivant around the community was a slap in our faces. He got so confident that he even started telling us in court that when we get tired we would stop coming to court. But we refused to give up, and that is why the case is still in court up till this moment. And from what we have heard, some traditional rulers were behind his securing bail back then. So all we want is for the case to be given proper attention. This is a case of about 18 years. How long does it take to deliver judgement on a case with such glaring evidences? This is a country with a constituted government, not a jungle. Governor Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice should see to it that judgement is given on this case.”
Ige would go on to state that what is more painful and a slap on their faces was Lai’s election by Oba of Ranodu of Imota for the stool of Oba of Igbokuta.
He said it all began sometime in 2020 when they got wind that he was about to be installed baale by Oba Ranodu; quickly they moved against it by getting a court order through their lawyer.
“’We got an order in court that he must not be installed. But at the end of the day, he came with some document that he had been appointed as baale. That case is also ongoing. But much to our chagrin, we started hearing again in late 2024 that the same oba is on the verge of crowning him king. This has caused a lot of turmoil in the community. How can you be contemplating making a murder accused king? What manner of king would he be? This is a man who killed somebody in the presence of many, so it’s not as if there was any doubt. It’s just that we needed to go through the process of the law.”
Corroborating Ige, Akinrele Abiola Michael popularly known as O-Yes, who is Igbokuta community secretary, said the whole incident took roots on the second of July 2008, after he went to report Lai at Zone 2 Police headquarters, Onikan, Lagos.
“I went to Zone 2 with Azeez who was eventually shot and killed and Muse. We had written a petition to the police about Lai’s activities in the community, who then came to arrest him. To my surprise, some children came running to me in the evening, shouting, ‘Secretary, the person you arrested this morning has started shooting.’ I was taken aback, because he was supposed to be in custody. Later a police officer, Ola, who lived in Gberigbe, told me that releasing him was normal, as we had only alleged.
“On returning to the community that same day, I learnt he went to meet Azeez’s father, retired sergeant Aliyu Ayeni, to threaten that he would deal with Azeez the day after for following Ahmat to arrest him. So on that fateful day, the third of July, I was in Igbokuta; Lai passed by me and told me: ‘You, I’m coming to meet you’. And just a few meters away, we suddenly saw him shoot the boy, Azeez – in the very presence of his father. That gun is the sort that the bullets spread, so it hit multiple targets. It was that shot that killed Azeez, blinded Ganiu and also hit Muse. It may interest you that that Muse has also died. Immediately, we called the RRS. Meanwhile, the father was enquiring from the boy what happened the day before. They were within hearing distance, so I saw and heard what transpired. Azeez was killed as he was about to respond to his father’s question.
“Immediately, we called the RRS ad the police came and took him to Imota Police station. He was arrested while trying to take the corpse of the deceased away in a vehicle. They even searched his house and found a coffin. He gave his statement at Imota; then he was taken to Panti, where they carried out other investigations, got the corona’s report and every other necessary reports; and then charged him for murder. The case was presented before Justice Onigbanjo. It was there that things started going awry. Suddenly there would be no light when it’s time to hear his case and the judge would adjourn. He was just putting up all sorts of antics so that he would not be sentenced. This went on for almost six to seven years.
“After Onigbanjo retired, the case was reassigned to Justice HO Oshodi. We have been on that since 2022.
A report by the Daily Sun newspaper of August 7, 2008, titled: ‘Families petition Okiro over death of artisan’, members of Shonaya, Akinrele and Ajala families and several Imota families in Ikorodu Local Government were appealing to the then IGP, Mike Okiro to bring the killers of their son, 30-year-old Azeez Shonaya to justice.
In that publication, Shonaya was said to have been killed by a group of land speculators led by a primary school teacher, Nosiru Jimoh Olayiwola, who was then being detained at the state CID Panti, Lagos.
The incident was said to have shattered the peace of Igbokuta and Imota communities.
That news item reflected how the accused and his group were so powerful as to be threatening those pushing for their prosecution while in custody.
In that petition, the families who were represented by their lawyer, Chief Gabriel Giwa-Amu, wrote: “Leaders of these families are now afraid of their lives. Olayiwola and other accused arrested in connection with Azeez’s death have been sending messages from their cells, saying it is a matter of time before they will regain their freedom.”
The lawyer in that report also lamented that Azeez would still have been alive if Olayiwola had not used his connection to secure his release when he was first arrested.”
Why such a man as king?
It is for these reasons that the families and residents of Igbokuta have objected to his selection by the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Ajibade Agoro.
According to Igbokuta Community secretary, Akinrele, this is what is causing the current problem and uproar. “How can Oba Ranodu select somebody known to have murdered somebody in full glare of people in the town as king? We learnt it was the Oba who stood as guarantor for him when he murdered the young that has elected him as king again. Meanwhile Igbokuta is not under the jurisdiction of Imota traditionally. We are from Agbowa, and we are from Dagunrewe family. We are not from Imota; and we’re not related to them in Imota. He went to the Oba of Imota because of his antics and relationship with that Oba. He was initially installed as Baale. We took that matter to the House of Assembly, and the House said there should be a stay on that, but that he could be representing the Oba of Imota.”
Tell them to produce suit number –Oba Agoro
However, the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Ajibade Agoro, responding to this reporter’s enquiries over the telephone, asked angrily, “How many times have they gone to court and lost? Tell them to produce the case suit number and the court where it is being heard. They have gone to court and he has defeated them four times and they are not relenting.”
On the claim that Igbokuta does not fall under his jurisdiction, Oba Ranodu said, Igbokuta falls under Imota LCDA. Even before becoming Oba, I was councilor for the ward. Igbokuta falls under ward D.
When informed of the people’s claim that they have affinity with Agbowa and not Imota, Oba Ranodu said, “These people are even non-indigenes, whose parents came into town in the 1950s and 60s. They are strangers, whose parents were customary tenants and paid customary rent. It is the real owners of the tow that are related to Agbowa, not these strangers.”
The monarch promised to send a letter from the Oba of Agbowa to this reporter’s whatsapp, but he never did until this report went to press.
