The Ogunmokun family of Akure, Ondo State, has issued a quit notice to the Federal Government, the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA), as well as several businesses occupying a disputed parcel of land within the college, following a Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the family’s ownership of the land.

The family, in the notice signed by its head, Michael Ajayi, and secretary, Gbenga Ajayi, demanded that the occupants vacate the land immediately.
The disputed parcel of land is home to the college, multiple filling stations, several shops, and the Benin Motor Park, located along the Akure-Owo-Ilesha Road.

The legal tussle began when Justice Adegboyega Adebusoye of an Akure High Court ruled in favour of the Ogunmokun family, declaring them the rightful owners of the land.

According to the lower court, neither the Ondo State Government nor the Federal Government lawfully acquired the land for public use. The judge emphasised that the government could only acquire land for public purposes through due process, adding that any acquisition without proper procedure was null and void.

Dissatisfied with the verdict, the Federal Government, alongside FECA, approached the Court of Appeal, where Justices Oyebisi Folakemi Omolade, Fredrick Oziakpono Ono, and Yusuf Alhaji Bashir upheld the lower court’s ruling, describing the government’s appeal as “moribund” and imposing a fine of N500,000 against the appellants.

Also displeased with the decision of the Court of Appeal, the appellants in the suit (including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, FECA, the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice) asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the judgments of the trial and appellate courts.

But the Supreme Court, presided over by Justices Musa Abba Aji, Ibrahim M. Musa Saulawa, Emmanuel Akomolafe Agim, Chidiebere Nwaoma, and Abubakar Sadiq Umar, dismissed the notice of appeal filed by the Federal Government and its agencies.

The apex court held that the notice of appeal filed in April 2024 was incompetent and was consequently struck out. The Ogunmokun family, in its notice, stated that tenants who had been paying rent to the college management should vacate the spaces allocated to them so that the family can take possession of the land.