Members of the Akowonwado family of Saari Village in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Council, Ogun State, have appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun and the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Oluwasina Ogungbade, to address what they described as persistent harassment, indiscriminate arrests, and violent assaults by the Ogun State Land Grabbing Task Force.
Speaking on behalf of the family, a principal member, Mr Michael Erinle, raised alarm over an incident on Friday, April 11, when policemen attached to the task force allegedly stormed their community, accompanied by purported thugs and land grabbers armed with dangerous weapons.
Erinle claimed the group unleashed violence on residents, leaving a block maker, Fatai Dauda, critically injured after being shot in the mouth. He added that four young men were also arrested during the incident.
Erinle explained that the crisis originated from a petition filed by a rival group claiming ownership of the land. The petition accused the Akowonwado family of illegally occupying land that the rival group claims belongs to them.
However, Erinle dismissed the allegation as false, citing a 2004 Supreme Court judgment and a 2015 possession order, which he said affirm the Akowonwado family’s ownership of the land.
“In 2015, we began marking the affected villages, including Saari, to notify residents of the Supreme Court’s decision. But we were violently attacked by thugs, forcing us to leave the area until 2023, when we returned to reclaim our land,” Erinle stated.
Since their return, Erinle alleged, the family has faced repeated attacks and intimidation, culminating in the petition that, according to him, has emboldened the task force to act with bias and brutality.
He added that after an initial meeting with the task force at the Attorney General’s office, where the Akowonwado family presented all relevant court judgments, no evidence was submitted by the opposing party. However, Erinle said the task force accused the family of missing subsequent meetings, an assertion the family denies.
When contacted, the head of the task force, Mr Okunola, insisted that invitations to meetings were sent but ignored by the Akowonwado family. He also claimed that the 2004 judgment did not include Saari Village as part of the Akowonwado family’s land.
Reacting to the controversy, Oba Samson Adeleye, the Olu of Okikilu Kingdom, defended the Akowonwado family, describing the allegations against them as malicious and misleading.
He asserted that the land in question is part of Awori territory, with multiple court judgments, including Supreme Court ruling SC 259/2001 delivered on May 21, 2004, affirming the Akowonwado family’s ownership while refuting the claims of the Salako and Akore families.
