From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has demanded the release of a Lagos-based real estate developer, Saheed Abdullahi Mosadoluwa, who has been in police custody since January 21, 2024.
National President of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, noted that Harmony Gardens and Estate Development Limited had issued a pre-action notice to those who masterminded the prolonged illegal detention of Mosadoluwa.
Onwubiko warned against the continuous trespass of some powerful forces in Lagos to forcefully take over Harmony Garden and Estate Development Limited investment in Eyin-Osa Resettlement through the IRT officer currently on the land.
According to him, “the company asserts its legal right to the land, emphasizing that the purchased land holds a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) – No: 33/33/2022.
“The pre-action notice accuses the defendants of conspiring with the police hierarchy, specifically mentioning IGP Egbetokun, to forcefully take over the land and detain the company director under the guise of an ongoing investigations.
“All the cases are already investigated, charges to court and some have already take over by the Attorney General office.
“The letter accuses Oba Kamarudeen Animashaun and others of causing divisions by reselling the resettlement land that their subjects have already sold and claims that the Eyin-Osa Resettlement Committee, including the Oba’s son, Idris Animashaun, is complicit in these actions.
“It alleges that the Eyin Osa committee have sold land to different real estate companies, creating conflicts among investors and now using the civil cases of Awujale vs Iposun in which the Kakanfo to Awujale boasted at palace of Kabiyesi Oloja that $50,000 collected from Obembe real estate was to bribe a judge who give judgement in the case that doesn’t link Eyin Osa Government Ressettlement Land at all.”
He concluded: “As tensions rise, this legal battle promises to be a complex and protracted affair, with implications not only for the parties involved but also for the broader real estate landscape in the region. The coming days may shed light on how this dispute will unfold in the courts.”