.Party’s ‘refusal to produce deed speaks volumes’, say police

Two Lagos communities, Epe and Poka-Isokan in Epe Local Council of the state, are currently at daggers drawn over the ownership of hectares of land in the area.

The Guardian learnt that the worsened crisis has led to involvement of the police and rival cult members, with resultant court cases and deaths.

The Baale of Isokan community, Olalekan Olatunde, accused the Oba of Epe, Kamorudeen Animashaun, of trespass and using the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Inaforiji, CSP Godfrey Ikpeka, to harass members of his community.

On the other hand, the Oba of Epe said the land in dispute belongs to his forefathers of Epe origin. He pointed the Baale to a court judgement, which, he claimed, resolved the dispute in his favour.

The Oba also denied allegations of deploying the police and cult members, maintaining that a man accused of being head of a cult (Eiye), Da Silver Oriyomi Oluwaseun, is simply one of his workers.

Olatunde said his community has boundaries with Temu and Ijako as well as Epe. According to him, the community has been in existence for over 500 years.

He said: “Historically, it was when Wuraka left Poka land that he founded Epe. It was last year that Kabiyesi Kamorudeen Animashaun came up with ownership of our land. I was personally very close to him, so much so that when I was crowned Baale of Poka land, in October 2022, he was among the numerous monarchs that graced the occasion.

“The truth is that part of the land in dispute was purchased by his people, not from us directly. They claimed they bought it from our forefathers, and we asked them for the evidence. But they couldn’t provide any. It was a group with the name Yinka, Akin & Co that sold to Kabiyesi Kamorudeen’s people.

“As I speak, we have dragged them to court to challenge the authority with which they are selling our land. The case is still subsisting.”

Olatunde continued: “We have been frequent visitors to the police unit in Ketu Epe, Zone 2 Onikan, Lagos, and FCID Alagbon, Ikoyi, over this issue. I have been nicknamed ‘kidnapper’, and was to be arraigned by policemen in Ketu Epe, until a call came from the same Zone 2 that I was not, and that the matter was purely a land matter.

“In all these, Epe is different from Poka. We have our own Kabiyesi. Kamorudeen Animashaun is not our Oba. Poka land has its own Oba named Ayeleru Kolawole Ayodele, and has been in existence before Epe. In fact, history has it, that Wuraka who moved from Poka land was the founder of Epe.

“This land in dispute has been there for so long without any problem until recently, when Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun woke up one day to say that he owns it.”

He added: “Oba Animashaun is claiming that he took Ijebu Epe to court over a certain portion of land and won the case. That is what he is capitalising on to venture into our own land, even though that High Court judgement against Papa Akesan has been appealed.

“We are in Ikosan, and the judgment obtained by Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun is against Papa-Akesan, not against Ikosan. Rather than concentrate on the land of which the judgement was given, even though it has since been appealed, he began to post ‘possession taken’ on all the lands.

“We are of the Tonto Toga family, and there are other families too that are in this problem together. To my surprise, it is our own family land that Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun is posting the judgement papers on.”

Reacting, Oba Animashaun said the Baale of Ikosan and others need to see the judgement obtained over the land in question.

He said: “The judgment says Akesan-Temu River…all these places belong to Epe. Those who are crying wolf are the ones terrorising my people. We are not trespassing into their land. By virtue of the judgement, part of our land is in Ikosan.

“This matter has even gone to the office of the immediate past IGP, and the police gave a report of their findings. I have written a petition to the office of the current Lagos State CP, Adegoke Fayoade. He is even coming to my palace to see me.

“The people are the ones going to social media to defame me, and I want the police to investigate it. If you know you have a right, go to the court. No need terrorising people. Whether it has been appealed or not, a court judgment is a court judgment until the contrary is proven in the Appeal Court.”

Meanwhile, a police report on the disputed land, signed by DCP Badru Banji Lawal of the Central Criminal Registry, on January 26, 2022, states that the disputed land belongs to the Ikosan community.

It reads: “In view of the above findings, police concluded that this case is obviously a case of ownership of 141 acres of land that originally formed part of vast land belonging to the Tonto Toga family of Temu, Poka, in Epe Local Council of Lagos State.

“While the representatives of the Tonto Toga family are denying that their forebears sold any part of their land to anybody, the agent and privies and legal representatives of the estate of the late Otunba Bayo Dejonwo maintained that the principal members of Tonto Toga family, by the sales agreement dated December 23, 1976, sold 141 acres of land to Otunba Bayo Dejonwo.

“The claim by the privies that part of the disputed land was bought from Apex Engineering and Construction Company Limited by Otunba Bayo Dejonwo, instead of the administrators and estate of the late Otunba Dejonwo, and also their refusal to produce to the police the deed they executed with Apex Engineering and Construction Company Limited, speaks volumes.”