By Rita Ugo
The Estate of the Late Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele has denied the media reports that an acclaimed site worker was shot dead in the Agidingbi, Lagos State .
The Estate also commended the security apparatus in the state for preventing bloodshed and restoring law and order on the troubled area.
This is just as the police in the state have confirmed the arrest of some suspected hoodlums in connection with the death and are being detained at the State Criminal Investigations Department( SCID) ,Panti ,Yaba for further investigations .
One of the counsels to the late international businessman ,Adeola Ibrahim ,while speaking with newsmen yesterday ,disclosed that the unidentified deceased man was hot by a reckless driver ,who was trying to escape from the scene .
According to the lawyer ,the suspect ,a Zonal Coordinator of the OPC in Oke Ifo Alagbado identified as Nurudeen Oseni was trying to conceal the arms and ammunition in his vehicle ,when policemen were mobilized to the scene ,when he drove recklessly and carelessly ,hitting many of his armed colleagues.
Ibrahim a lawyer,while reacting to the originators of the media reports ,narrated that the deceased member of a gang of hoodlums was killed ,said:” They are being clever by half .They are sending wrong signal to the public to draw unnecessary sympathy from the public.
The legal practitioner narrated that,” The truth of the matter is that the late Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele owned quite a number of properties in the Agidingbi area of Lagos State and that has been put to rest by the Supreme Court in a matter between Mogaji and others vs Cadbury Nigeria Plc as delivered Justice Andrews Obaseki.”
Ibrahim ,who blamed the Lagos State Government for the crisis stated that all started ,when acclaimed allotees of the government were trying to develop an improperly acquired land.
He noted that :” In 1963 ,the government of the Western Region acquired approximately 601 hectares of land from Oyedele Ashamu in the area and the title are fully registered .
“ If you check the records of the Lagos State government ,particularly in Land Registry,you will find a Deed of Conveyance 16/ 16/in volume 600, you will find 57/57 in volume 652 ,you will find 41/41 in volume 646 , you will find 32/32 in volume 1425 and 33/33 in volume 1432 among other several documents that cover the entirety of Agidingbi.
The owner of that property is still still vested in Late Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele.
“ With the creation of Lagos State,the property was one of the assets shared to the state and the state again acquired the land from the same Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele without compensation till date .
“ Till date ,despite repeated letters from Afe Babalola,SAN ,FRA Williams and HOC Davies,the Lagos state government did not pay compensation to the Ashamu Oyedele family .
“ Since 2023 ,the Lagos state government began a bazaar and started giving the acquired land to themselves and their cronies despite an advice from the state House of Assembly to release the undeveloped properties to their owners .
The Lagos State Government allocated the late Oyedele’ s land to a former chairman in Onigbongbo ,who is a major shareholder in WGC Construction Limited.
“ It was WGC that brought over two hundred armed Oodua People’s s Congress ( OPC) members and hoodlums to the site and were illegally occupying the property.
“ The Zone 2 Police Command initially attempted to intervene, but when they arrived at the scene and discovered that the armed hoodlums were overwhelming .
“ The police and other security operatives prevented a bloodbath as the hoodlums ,who were stationed on the site were ready for war.”