A Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Mr. Abiodun, has challenged the Ondo State Anti-Land Grabbing Unit to confiscate any parcel of land that can be traced to him in connection with an ongoing property dispute in Igba Community, insisting that he has absolutely no interest in the contested land.
The lawyer, who accused the agency of dragging him into a matter in which he has no stake, alleged that the Anti-Land Grabbing Task Force was dabbling in issues already before a court of competent jurisdiction.
Speaking with journalists, Abiodun maintained that he neither owns land in the Agbondin or the Igba community nor has he visited the area in the last 45 years.
“I have never wrestled with anyone or contested land ownership with anyone, living or dead, in that community,” he declared.
Throwing down the gauntlet to the task force, he said: “Let the Anti-Land Grabbing outfit extend to me NO Audi Alteram Patem (hear the other side). Let them seize any land remotely linked to me, either attached to my name or by any form of proxy. That’s a community I have not stepped my foot in for 45 years, talk less of associating his name in any land grabbing issues. Let them mention the name of anyone with whom I have had even the slightest land altercation at the so-called Agbonden Uloko. My calling is to help give succour to the oppressed, the voiceless and the vilified within our midst without any strings whatsoever.”
Still reacting, he said the dispute centres on a contested property in Igba Community where a bricklayer, Ojo Ajisafe, is engaged in a legal battle over family inheritance.
He alleged that influential individuals with interests in the land have mounted a sustained campaign of petitions to several government institutions in a bid to pressure their opponents.
According to him, petitions have been submitted to the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), Amotekun Corps, the Ondo State Ministry of Justice and the state’s Anti-Land Grabbing Task Force.
The Lawyer questioned why his name featured in one of the latest petitions despite his insistence that he has never owned land in the community, never litigated over any property there and has not visited the area in over four decades.
He alleged that Olaleye Awonusi, whom he accused of laying claim to vast portions of land in the community despite existing court judgments, had continued to operate with impunity, claiming that he is now ‘His Royal Majesty’ against a previous directives by the state governor against the installation of any chief in Igba community, as it does not fall within the Epe land, where the Yangede holds sway. But all of that did not dissuade them from such illegal act. They carried on anyway with impunity and installed Olaleye Awonusi as Olu, a strange title unknown to the Ondo Royal Stool. But he was not done. He wondered the difference between the Atuashe of Warri title of Olu and therefore adopted same appellation, asking all to accord him same respect of HRH or vacate his self acquired domain not rooted in history, and never ruled over by any king of his ancestry. A domain covered by court judgements belonging to another. Such is the impunity cascading the Ondo East Local Government.
He further alleged that despite police investigations reportedly authenticating the court judgments being relied upon by Ojo Ajisafe, the findings were rejected, prompting what is now described as “forum shopping” by those dissatisfied with the outcome.
Abiodun said he had no prior relationship with Ajisafe and only became involved after an Ondo lawyer, Chief Femi Akinbinu informed him that the bricklayer had spent weeks in detention on frivolous petitions. He said he merely contributed towards Ajisafe’s legal expenses without any expectation of personal benefit.
The lawyer further alleged that the principal figure behind the petitions, identified only by the alias “Ina njo Ogiri Osa,” had initially sponsored Ajisafe by purchasing a motorcycle for him, giving him financial support and paying N500,000 in legal fees to Femi Akinbinu on account of that poor boy, before their relationship allegedly deteriorated over the sharing pattern of his then adopted son’s inheritance.
He also alleged that the octogenarian later aligned with parties who had lost previous court cases over the land and was now leveraging his connections within the Ondo State Government to protect investments allegedly acquired through dubious means.In his words, the harassment continued even after police investigations reportedly cleared the bricklayer of wrongdoing.
He alleged that fresh petitions were subsequently sent to Amotekun, the DSS, Police Headquarters in Akure, Police Zone 17, the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Ondo State Police Command, FCID Alagbon in Lagos, the Ondo State Anti-Land Grabbing Unit, the Ministry of Justice in Akure and the Police Post in Igba.
He also alleged that Awonusi’s latest petition to the Anti-Land Grabbing Unit expanded the scope of the allegations to include anyone perceived to be sympathetic to Ajisafe, including himself.
The lawyer further alleged that the second most senior official in the Ondo State Ministry of Justice, who is due for retirement in a few months, was working to protect a two-acre parcel of land allegedly received free of charge from ‘King’ Awonusi and was aggressively pursuing financial gains which may become handy in retirement.
Insisting that he has no personal interest in the disputed property beyond what he described as humanitarian support for an oppressed bricklayer, the lawyer maintained that anyone who believes he has violated the law should seek redress in court instead of embarking on what he described as frivolous petition writing.
Abiodun, who holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the University of Lagos, is a human rights activist and social reform advocate whose reputation, according to the statement, has been built over several decades of legal practice and public service.
He then recalled financing the prosecution of several cases, which included a murder case about a decade ago after allegedly encountering the impoverished mother of a young man whose head had been slashed with a machete by a wealthy farmer in a village near Ondo.
According to him, he persuaded then Commissioner of Police Hilda Harrison to reopen the investigation, while the prosecution was handled by Ministry of Justice officials Mr. Segun Akeredolu and Mrs. Omotola Ologun before Justice Bola sentenced the accused millionaire to death by hanging.
Abiodun said he personally funded the prosecution and quietly assisted the victim’s mother financially to establish a small trading business, insisting that he neither sought nor received public recognition for the intervention.
“It’s what am wired for, to give succor to the oppressed and voice to the voiceless. I truly have no apologies”, he concluded.
