A Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has granted bail to the seven security guards who were arrested and detained by operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, over the death of a man in the Agidingbi area of the state.

This is just as the estate of the late Lagos businessman, Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele, has condemned the arrest of the workers by policemen from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon, over a matter that is already before a court of competent jurisdiction and also being investigated by the Lagos State Police Command and the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan.

The police had on Monday approached the court, presided over by Olanrewaju Olatunji, to seek an application for a remand order, pending when the arrested workers would be arraigned in court.

Oladiran Ayodele of the Legal Department, FCID Annexe, Alagbon, had prayed the court to grant a warrant order to continue keeping the suspects in custody.

Adeola Ibrahim, counsel to the arrested workers, however, opposed the bail, noting that the arrest and continued detention of the workers was just an attempt to keep them out of circulation.

The arrested workers were arrested last Thursday and hurriedly arraigned in court but granted bail by the magistrate.

The magistrate, after hearing from both parties, refused to grant the remand warrant and admitted the arrested workers to bail, noting that the prosecutor had not provided sufficient reasons why the suspects should be remanded.

The estate of the late Ashamu Oyedele described the arrest of the seven workers as a hatched plan to forcefully grab a large expanse of land belonging to the late businessman.

One of the lawyers to the late businessman’s estate, Adeola Ibrahim, said that the arrest of the seven security men was purely carried out by the police at FCID to pave the way for one of the parties to forcefully take control and possession of the land.

He also stated that the arrest and the subsequent deployment of policemen from FCID, Alagbon, to protect one of the parties was a disregard for the order of the Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Olohundare Jimoh, who, after listening to the two parties, ordered that both parties must maintain the status quo.

The lawyer said: “From all indications, one of the disputing parties is apparently using the FCID, Alagbon, to forcefully take over the land.”

He stressed that: “You may recall that on June 18, 2025, the police officers from SEB of FCID, Alagbon, came and arrested a security guard and two passers-by around the disputed land.

“After the arrest, they stationed mock policemen, or those on illegal duty, on the land to guard the people who had been brought by one of the disputing parties to the land.

“The AIG Zone 2 and the Commissioner of Police denied deploying the policemen to the scene, and in an effort to restore normalcy, a driver—who was later arrested and is still in detention—while trying to escape from the scene in a vehicle loaded with arms and ammunition, crushed one of his colleagues.”

Ibrahim also added: “The key issue for me is that the death was triggered by the arrest of our security guard by operatives of the FCID, Alagbon.

“Zone 2 Police Command is already investigating the incident, and what makes the latest arrest more worrisome is the fact that the Lagos State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti, is already investigating a case of culpable murder related to the death.”

He stated that: “All the parties are being interrogated. Everyone found on the land is also being interrogated. We do not understand the basis of the July 3rd storming of the place by operatives of FCID, Alagbon—again Alagbon invading the place to carry out the arrest of our security guards.”

He described the arrest as “a decoy to enable one of the disputing parties on the land to control and take possession of the land.”

“Immediately after the arrest of our workers, the other party went to the site and started massive construction on the land. The police have also taken over now and are providing cover and security for the other party on the land.

“The latest action is against two orders. First, the subsisting order of the IGP, which states that no personnel of the NPF are to be deployed on disputed land or involved in any land matter, or be on illegal guard duty for any land-related issue. Also, the CP Lagos State, immediately after the death of the person, gave an order that nobody must do any work on the disputed land until the conclusion of the investigation.

He said the police would not stand by and allow a breakdown of law and order.

The CP, specifically on Monday, June 23, requested that all parties cease work on that land. He instructed the Area Commander in charge of Area F and the DPO in charge of Alausa Police Station to ensure compliance.”

He noted that: “Policemen from Alagbon came and arrested people who are merely security guards. The leader of the police team, CSP Taiwo Oyewole, till now, has not shown the petition under which the security officers were arrested—neither to the lawyers nor the suspects.”

The lawyer averred that: “It is clear that CSP Taiwo Oyewole of FCID, Alagbon, is carrying out the bidding of one of the parties in dispute over that land, and that is against the statutory responsibility of the NPF as determined in the relevant extant laws.

“Her conduct does not demonstrate neutrality in the investigation matter, as she appears to be a willing tool in the hands of one of the parties in the matter.”

The lawyer also said that: “Already, we have instituted a case, which is before the Lagos State High Court.”