Land grabbers, police sack Ogun community

Tragedy struck in Olorunsogo Community of Ifo Local Gov­ernment Area of Ogun State on Wednesday, when suspect­ed fully-armed land grabbers, with an alleged Police squad stormed and overran the community.

It was gath­ered that the hoodlums shot sporad­ically at the villagers, beating and maiming the residents to forcefully take possession of their land illegally.

It was gathered that a good number of people got various degrees of gun­shot injury and had been hospitalised.

As at Friday afternoon, the tension was high in the community as the ap­prehensive dwellers lived in palpable fear. There were also rumours that the grabbers, who left late Wednesday night after the bloody clash are threat­ening to come back to whisk away the monarch, Oba Samuel Olukayode Shodimu, and other prominent chiefs in the community and its environs any time from now.

However, the police in Ogun State have confirmed the incident.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Of­ficer (PPRO), in a telephone interview with the reporter on Thursday evening, said some persons came to take possession of land in the area based on “a legitimate Supreme Court judgment.”

“They (land grabbers) came to us with a copy of the court judgment and applied for police presence and we gave them policemen,” he said.

When asked if he was aware that the incident turned violent with a lot of people injured, he said he was not aware, but would find out, adding “it is possible there was resistance because in most cases, when you go to execute such court judgement, there is often re­sistance. I am not aware anybody was injured, but I am going to find out. I will also find out from the operatives if any arrest was made,” the police image maker said.

Meanwhile, Oba Shodimu said the community has no court case with anybody, clarifying that the village the people that invaded them had a court case with was Ikija, a neighbouring village to Olorunsogo and this was during the reign of Alakija of Ikija, late Oba Samson Ayorinde.

The royal father called on Nigeri­ans, the Ogun State Government and the Inspector General of Police to come to their aid so that the perpetra­tors of the heinous crime are brought to book.

Narrating the incident, the royal father said, “What happened was that the land grabbers, the Aworis invaded our com­munity yesterday (Wednesday). They came with thugs and dangerous weap­ons. They even came with policemen in three Hilux vans, about 70 mobile policemen. They also came with 100 motorcycles. Over 1000 people came to invade our town.”

The Oba said that in 2020, they had a similar experience, but that it did not turn bloody.

“It has happened before in 2020. It was the Awori people from Ibaragun, a suburb of about 30 to 40 km to us that came to invade our community. They said they wanted to execute a judgment and I told them that we did not have any case with anybody and that they should bring the judgment  case out.

“Those that they were having a case with are the Ikijas, a neighbouring vil­lage to them. They share a boundary together. The late Oba Ikija, Alakija of Ikija, late Samson Ayorinde, had a case with them on that issue. It was his name that was in the judgment. There is no name of anybody from our com­munity that is involved in the case. But they are claiming its Olorunsogo and its environ and we told them we are not having any case with you. It is the community that is beside you, the Iki­ja, that you have a case with and not us. Then they wanted to invade us but we did not allow them. We chased them away. Later, when they came back to sell land to some occult people (Ifa), we chased them away and arrested some of them. They were charged to court.

“They denied the charges and said they were just passing by when they were arrested. I have that judgment with me. The High Court of Ifo dis­missed that case. Since then, we would hear that they want to come or they are coming but we did not see them again. But some people told us that we should not joke with their threat, that they are coming. So we wrote a peti­tion to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), to the Governor and the House of As­sembly. I have those copies of the peti­tion and the bodies that we copied. Till today, nobody invited us for a dialogue. We were abandoned to face our battle. They did not also interview them.”

The monarch said when the grab­bers arrived, he solicited for the assis­tance of the Nigerian army guarding premises at the entrance of the town.

“So the soldiers blocked the road and they asked them where they were going. They said they wanted to go and execute court judgment. So one of my brothers that was there called me to talk to a policeman and a bailiff and they told me that it was on the order of the CP that the Ibaragun royal fam­ily received judgment that they gave former President Olusegun Obasanjo about 6000 hectares of land, that it is Olorunsogo the land ends.

“But I said these people have been here before and I told them that we did not have any case with anybody. And I asked the policeman, ‘If it is Ibara­gun that has the land, will they give out 6000 hectares as a gift just like that?’ He said he cannot answer, so the phone was given to the bailiff and he started reading the judgment. He said Ikija, Idi-Orogbo etc but I told them that the place they called Olorunsogo is still far. It is far from Ibaragun that it is about 30-40km from here. That the 6000 hect­ares cannot get to Olorunsogo and I also told him that we did not have any case with anybody. So he dropped the phone. It was after the soldiers left that they invaded our community and they started shooting.”

After the invasion, the monarch said he called the PPRO who directed them to report the case at the nearest police station.

“We have to pass another route out to inform our councilor, Hon. Elijah Olujimi Folarin, to go and report the case to the police, but to our dismay, they did not respond to us when we got to Ifo Police Station.

“It was until they had wounded many people that they gave our coun­cilor an audience. Yet, they said they cannot follow him because the inva­sion was on the order of the CP, that it was a court order. That was how the policemen went back. Even those that were badly wounded, when we took them to the hospital, they requested for police report, but the police did not give us any report. But the indigenes of the community insisted that they cannot leave their father’s land.

“We did not see any police coming to our rescue. That is why we are call­ing on all well-meaning Nigerians to come to our rescue,” the royal father lamented.

It would be recalled that on Feb­ruary 4, 2022, the community wrote a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Police Command in respect of the looming threat to lives and property of members of the community.

The petition was titled ‘Notification Of Clandestine Moves Of Land Grab­bers From Ibaragun Town In Ogun State To Cause Breach Of Public Peace And Breakdown Of Law And Order In Olorunsogo Town, Ogun State And Its Environs’ signed by O.O. ONIYIRE, ESQ and copied to His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Ex­ecutive Governor of Ogun State; and the Hon. Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly. It read in part:

“We write on behalf of the entire peace-loving people of Olorunsogo Community and its neighbouring vil­lages, including Olorunsogo, Gbogbo, Yambi, Luwani, Kemta, Ishola, Otun­ba, Loki, Orogbe, Oshaye, Lukosi, Olounda, Iro, Lapeji, Jibode, Ajade Ikija, Aworan, Olomowewe, Iporo Ele­pa, Italaji, Jaguna, Iyedibalogun, Iyedi Ikereku, Akinlagun, Lerin Olowofe­la, Ijoko Lefun, Ikija Lefun, Ojokodo, Mose Balogun, Apode, Sopade, Paa­ta Abiodun, Paata Asabiyi, Okenla, Asa Apon, Fasola, Sokan, Obasa and Aralu, all of whom are hereinafter re­ferred to as ‘Our Client’ and on whose instruction this notification is written and served on your good offices.

“Our clients informed us and we verily believe them to be true and cor­rect that they have of recent been in constant fear and apprehension as a result of the suspicious movement/ presence of some miscreants and land grabbers engaged by Ibaragun people and strategically positioned around our Clients villages and com­munities to propagate their weird ex­pansionist policy and intentions in this day and age and thereby cause a breach of peace and total breakdown of law and order on our clients land all in their pretentious moves and claims of enforcing a judgment over land whereas our clients communi­ties and their accredited represen­tatives were never at any time em­broiled in any litigation whatsoever and howsoever described.

“It is worrisome that a judgment over land which by law is in personam would be callously taken to extend to landed properties of law-abiding per­sons and particularly our clients who were never at any time sued to court over any land howsoever described by the Ibaragun people.

“Having respectfully drawn the at­tention of your esteemed offices to the wicked plans and current activities of the Ibaragun people, we strongly look forward to your protection and the quick inauguration of pro-active steps to curtail the nefarious activities of Ibaragun people and permanently nip same in the bud.

“Unless there is a quick interven­tion by your highly esteemed offices in this matter, the Ibaragun people would unleash bloodshed and serious may­hem in the aforementioned villages and communities of our clients.

“May we, therefore, crave your indulgence to please do the needful to foreclose the imminent loss of lives and properties in our clients’ villag­es and communities and restore the self-confidence of our clients.” (Saturday Independent)