Edwards Private School has called for the arrest and prosecution of Agege council chairman, Mr. Kola Ganiu Egunjobi, over the alleged malicious demolition of its property and threats to lives.
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The school, in a petition dated October 8, 2024, signed by Mrs. Adefunmilayo Ayo-Odugbesan, alleged that the chairman led a group of heavily armed men with bulldozers and commenced the demolition of the school building, pulling out the roof, with a substantial part of the topmost floor demolished.

The property in question, located at 47 Old Ogba Road beside MKO Abiola Market, Agege, formerly housed Edwards Private School, a private entity owned by the Ayo-Odugbesans.

The school contended that the chairman has no authority to demolish or take over the disputed property.

The petition read: “We are owners of the property lying and situated at 47 Old Ogba Road, near M.K.O Abiola Market, Agege, Lagos State, and proprietors of Edwards Private School, in which we write in respect of the above-captioned complaint.
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“Sometime in July 1992, being desirous of operating a school that will provide quality education and cater for the educational needs of indigent pupils within the Agege Local Government Area, we purchased and acquired legal title to the property situate at 47 Old Ogba Road, near M.K.O. Abiola Market, Agege, Lagos State, for valuable consideration from Mrs. Olympia Durotike Ekundayo (née Sowonola) by virtue of a Deed of Assignment dated July 2, 1992, and registered as No. 63 at page 63 in Volume 1992 of the Register of Deeds kept at the Lagos State Lands Registry Office, Ikeja, Lagos State.

“Consequent upon being vested with the legal title to the land, being desirous of constructing a two-storey building on the same for use as a school, we proceeded to obtain an approval of our building plan, which was duly granted on December 30, 1992, as Approved Building Plan No: AG92/859/22.

“Further to the above, and in exercise of our proprietary rights over the property, we proceeded to erect a two-storey building on the land, which, as planned, was being used for educational purposes as a school known as Edwards Private School. Attached as Annexure B(1) and B(2) are pictures evidencing the said building on the land.”
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The petitioner said the school has been in operation on the land since 1994 and has graduated over 1,200 pupils, whose educational records are kept in the claimants’ building on the land.

It claimed that sometime on or about September 25, 2024, the council chairman caused signage to be mounted on the fence of the land, with an inscription that reads: “This land belongs to Agege Local Government. The land is notified as unlawful invasion and acquisition. Occupant and the general public are hereby informed that the property is hereby confiscated. Thank you.”

Perturbed by the inscription in the aforesaid signage and the alleged “confiscation” alluded to—particularly as there is no law prescribing the “confiscation” of land—the claimant said they immediately briefed their lawyers.

The lawyers, Wigwe and Partners, by a letter dated September 27, 2024, addressed to the chairman of Agege Local Government Area, asked him to remove the signage immediately.
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“By the said letter, we also advised that any activity that will infringe on our proprietary rights over the property, as constitutionally guaranteed, should be refrained from.

“It is imperative to also state that our presence on the land has always been known to the Agege Local Government, and as far back as 2001, Agege Local Government had, by a letter dated July 17, 2001, written to our school to remove a speed breaker installed by the entrance of the school on Ogba Road.

“It is therefore surprising that the same local government will refer to our presence on the land as unlawful invasion and acquisition.

“Strangely, on September 28, 2024, the chairman led a group of heavily armed men and paramilitary officers onto the land without our consent or any prior notice to us.

“He equally brought bulldozers to the land and commenced the demolition of the school building, pulling out the roof, with a substantial part of the topmost floor demolished. In fact, the demolition of the building has continued now for days and is still ongoing,” the school claimed, adding that it has evidence that there is a clear intention to cause malicious damage to their property.

Responding, Egunjobi denied the allegations, stating that the demolished property was situated on the council’s land, which he said had been part of the former Abiola Market.
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The council chairman also, at a recent press briefing, presented before newsmen original copies of requisite title documents obtained by the local government.

According to Egunjobi, the land is evidenced by the council’s survey plan and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) issued by the Lagos State government.

In response to claims by the school that it possesses a governor’s consent for the land, Egunjobi declared that such a claim must be thoroughly investigated.
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