land

In the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, a fierce land battle is unfolding, pitting a 64-year-old woman against a monarch in a dispute that has turned the spotlight on longstanding issues of land ownership in the state. BABATUNDE TITILOLA reports

When Mrs Olaitan Ogunseye purchased a parcel of land from the royal family of Mushade Odugate of the Majolagbe Family in Ikorodu, Lagos State, in 2000, neither she nor her husband thought the purchase would be marred by heartbreaking controversies.

According to documents seen by this reporter, the 64-year-old woman bought the land located on Chris Aghanenu Street, Eyita, in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of the state from one of the monarch’s relatives in 2000, with complete documentation and a receipt.

Dated May 5, 2000, the joint signatures on the receipt were Haruna Saka, Sita Saka, Lasisi Saka, and Kehinde Saka. Sadly, Ogunseye’s hopes of building her family’s dream home were soon crushed after she was diagnosed with an illness that took some time to recover from. She left Nigeria to seek better treatment abroad, spending money, time, and energy on the traumatising experience.

When she eventually began construction on the land in 2007, her health failed her again. However, this time around, she was bent on overcoming all health obstacles to complete her dream home.

From one trouble to another

Not long after Ogunseye started sharing her money between paying for medical treatments and building her house, another devastating news came in.

She said, “We began construction in 2007. When the structure reached the lintel phase, I had another health complication. It was a terrible experience, but I survived. After surviving the medical challenges, I returned to the site to complete the building.

“I bought all the materials needed to complete the house. Some boys came to me one day and said they would not allow me or any other person to work on the site.”

She explained that the hoodlums directed her to the palace to meet with the Eletu of Oke-Eletu, Chief Adeniyi Ajayi, the current head of the Mushade Odugate Royal House, to resolve whatever issues they were having over the land before she would be allowed to continue construction.

Ogunseye, feeling stunned by the development, approached the monarch but was met with a more shocking welcome.

“He (the monarch) said he would kill us and any other person he sees on the land,” she claimed.

This, according to her, was the beginning of another battle with no end in sight. She was not only about to lose the land, but also the money, time, and resources she and her husband spent to raise the building on it.

N2.5m compensation, building demolition

Continuing her story, Ogunseye said all efforts to appeal to the monarch at his palace proved unsuccessful as she left with the fear that she had lost everything.

She added, “It was when we got outside of the palace that one of the monarch’s boys saw my condition and told us to beg the monarch with N2.5m,” she added as her voice reflected the agony she had been through.

“I told the man that I would bring N1m to the palace so that we could plead with the monarch but he refused the money and said the monarch had already seen someone willing to pay N10m for the property.

“The next time I visited the palace with other family members to plead with the monarch, he chased me out. But my relatives and his subordinates stayed behind to beg him. He later agreed and said he would give us his response two weeks later.

“We didn’t hear anything from him again. We called him but he did not pick up. So, we had to go to his palace again. There, he told us that once he was done with what he was doing on my property, he would give us another land.”

Ogunseye told Sunday PUNCH that by the time she was able to come up with the N2.5m to appease the monarch, the building had already been demolished and the land sold to another person.

She said, “We later called the monarch’s subordinate about the money, but he said there was nothing he could do again. So, I went to my site. On getting there, I saw loads of blocks on my site. I was told the blocks belonged to the people he (the monarch) sold my land to. The second time I went there, I observed that they had dug holes to fence my property.

“When I saw what was happening on my property, I met with other leaders in the community to help me appeal to the king not to take my land. They did, and he promised to work things out. A few days later, my building was demolished, and they started erecting another structure on my property.”

Cry for justice

Left helpless, Ogunseye decided to seek the intervention of a third-party.

In a petition dated July 30, 2024, which Sunday PUNCH obtained, the Ogunseye family appealed to state Commissioners for Justice, Lawal Pedro, and Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bolaji Robert, and urged the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, and the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to protect their land and ensure the safety of their daughter.

A part of the petition read, “Sometimes, in July 2024, Olaitan Ogunseye was invited by Ajayi (the monarch) through his emissary, Kazeem Kolawole (Baale Aja), to ratify her ownership by paying the sum of N2.5m after failing to pay the initial ratification fee of N400,000.”

In another petition signed by Ogunseye’s lawyer, Tomilola Adeniji, she asked the authorities to protect her from “the land-grabbing Ajayi and his hired thugs and assailants,” while demanding “protection of Ogunseye’s property and compensation for the demolished property.”

Land-grabbing in Lagos

Several real estate investors and local homeowners in Nigeria have their share of experiences with landgrabbers sacking them from the lands they believed to have legally purchased.

Findings by this reporter showed that land grabbing might have become a multimillionaire business as wealthy socialites and royal figures are often entangled in the series of accusations of unlawfully dispossessing hapless citizens of their land.

This act done by landgrabbers, popularly called ‘Omo Onile,’ involves armed hoodlums storming construction sites to demand money from owners of property, and illegally taking possession of land.

In a letter addressed to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, on July 27, 2024, residents of Precious Seeds Community in the Oworonshoki area of the state, accused the traditional ruler and the Oloworo of Oworonshoki Kingdom, Oba Babatunde Saliu, of enlisting hoodlums to forcibly evict them from their homes.

In July 2023, a local chief of Lootu town, Fatai Jubril, was shot to death in front of his teenage daughter and pregnant wife in the Ibeju Lekki area of the state after an alleged dispute over land ownership between him and another chief in the community.

Also, occupants of Millennium City Centre Estate in Gbagada, Lagos, accused five families of Oyedele Ashamu, Antonio Miranda, Atunrase, Alashe, and Odutola of pressuring them to repurchase the land.

The residents further accused the Alashe family of sponsoring armed miscreants to intimidate them in a bid to either repurchase the lands or leave.

Monarch disagrees

Responding to the allegations raised by Ogunseye during a telephone call, Ajayi told Sunday PUNCH that the allegations against him were not true and he was acting on an order obtained from the High Court.

“There were judgments in 2007 and 2020. There was a consent judgment,” he added.

In a subsequent inquiry forwarded to Ajayi’s lawyer, Olatunji Osikoya, this reporter was referred to a publication made by the monarch’s family alleging that Ogunseye failed to comply with the terms of settlement contained in the court order.

The publication, with reference to the court order obtained in suit IKD/540LMW/2015 read in part, “Terms of settlement was filed and duly adopted by the court to the knowledge of Mrs Olaitan Ogunseye and other members of Unity Estate, all of whom were represented by a revered senior counsel.

“By the said consent judgement, the members of Unity Estate including Mrs Olaitan Ogunseye, were to discharge their obligations to the Mushade Odugate Family within a specified time, which time lag had since lapsed for more than three years.

“Note that the consent judgment contains forfeiture in the event of failure to comply with its terms. Mrs Olaitan Ogunseye failed to abide by the terms of the consent judgment since March 2020. Hence, the family took appropriate steps in the circumstance.”

“We are unaware of court orders”

Reacting to the accounts contained in the publication made by the Mushade Odugate Family, Ogunseye’s husband, Tayo, while speaking with Sunday PUNCH, said the family was not informed about any obligation to be discharged and relied on the payment receipt that showed the authenticity of the land sale.

He said, “We were never informed of any payment as our building was still under construction. The reason we did not complete the building on time was because of her (my wife’s) condition. She had three medical surgeries. She had two in Nigeria and one in the UK. We have the survey of the land and other documents.

“We later learnt that they asked those who had buildings in the community to pay about N200,000 for rectification. They said it was the court that gave the judgment. We did not know about this until later because we had not yet completed the structure. We want our land to be returned to us. And he should compensate us for demolishing our property.”

Tayo explained that the family had yet to see any court order and noted that they received an invitation for an out-of-court settlement which, was surprising.

He said, “We have not seen any of the court orders that they claimed to have. I have just commissioned some people to get the case file for me. Now, they are asking for a settlement. And that has further aroused my curiosity. If you are sure of the documents you claim you have and after you have maliciously destroyed somebody’s structure, why are you asking for an out-of-court settlement?

“We are not aware of any judgement obtained in 2007 or 2020. We were not aware of anything because my wife had been terminally ill. It was God that saved her. So, we have no idea about any judgement. They claimed that all these were happening because we did not pay N400,000. And we were not aware of any N400,000 payment. This is impunity. We have been cheated, and we suffered malicious damage to our property.”

Legal viewpoint

A human rights lawyer, Collins Aigbogun, said land grabbing had become a national issue that continually threatens individual rights.

He said, “Once a land has been sold, they can go back to reclaim the land. This is usually dominant in southwest Nigeria, where certain people refer to themselves as landowners, attacking and grabbing the land that has been legitimately purchased. This is an infringement on the rights of individuals.”

Also reacting, a commercial transaction lawyer, Maxwell Adigun, said internal conflicts within families controlling land often cause issues for buyers.

He added, “The aggrieved party should approach the court for a redress. If the buyers feel like they legally bought the land and can provide receipts and relevant documents to back up their claims, then they cannot be stopped from approaching the court. On the other hand, if the sale of land is not in dispute, then, everything else could be settled out-of-court.”

Case under investigation – Authorities

A source in the Lagos State Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers said the agency did not want to comment on the matter for now.

“They (taskforce officials) prefer to face their work and discover what is going on. It is not about talking. It is about finding out what truly happened,” the source said.

However, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, said the case had been transferred to appropriate authorities and the parties would be invited.

“We have been notified of the matter. The Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers and all relevant offices have been notified too, including the Commissioner for Local Government and the Commissioner for Community Affairs. The Commissioner for Local Government said he got the letter and they have stepped in. They are all interested in the matter.

“We also saw the publication they (the monarch’s family) made yesterday. They said they were acting on a court judgement. So, we are aware and already investigating the matter,” Omotosho said.

• Additional report by UTHMAN SALAMI