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By Christopher Oji
A widow, Muniratu Saka-Itogbe (nee Abdulsalam Balogun), has sent a save-our-souls to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Inspector-General of Police to rescue her from the hands of alleged land grabbers, who have forcefully taken over her property.
Muniratu said a new building is being erected on her property, located at No 24, Olojo Drive, Ojo Town.
The septuagenarian is also alleging threats to her life and that of her children, who she said were also being harassed by the land grabbers and their aides since last year that the land has been in contention.
Muniratu is alleging that one Ghalib Erinfolami (aka Adakeja), the incumbent Balogun of Ojo, and one other Goke Ayilara of conspiring with others to deal with her.
In his reaction, however, Erifolami said Muniratu was being economical with the truth and challenged her to back up her claim of ownership of the said property with valid documents.
Muniratu said she had been surviving from the little proceeds she receives as rent from the house she erected on the property that she lived in for about 40 years. Also joining Muniratu was her daughter, Mrs Tawa Alege (nee Balogun), who recalled that in November 2022, matters over the property were taken to the palace of the Olojo of Ojo, who, after series of interventions and deliberations, directed that no party must trespass on the said property until all contentious issues were fully resolved.
Recounting her ordeal, Muniratu said two years ago, she decided to move out of the building having lived there for over four decades, ostensibly to put the property on lease. She said while she was still shopping for a befitting client, Erinfolami and Ayilara started making secret moves to sell off the land, hence she had to make a formal report at Olojo’s palace as well as Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan. She added that the decision by the palace that all parties must stay action was also communicated at Zone 2.
She said about a month ago, she noticed that the said property had been sealed off, adding that she was shocked a few days afterwards, when some thugs, led by Erinfolami and Ayilara, arrived the site with a bulldozer to level her building.
She said she immediately notified Ojo Police Station and Zone 2, respectively, to stop the planned demolition to no avail. She said when they approached Zone 2, where the matter had been reported last year, they were informed by the police that they were neither aware nor gave the go-ahead for the demolition of the structure.
Muniratu said: “When we noticed what was happening, one of my sons quickly rushed to Ojo police station to lodge a complaint, so the police could stop them (Erinfolami and Adegoke Ayilara and) from demolishing my building.
“Aside, we know that in Lagos State, it is a criminal offence for anyone to bring down a building without the consent of the owner. But to my surprise, the police at Ojo refused to enter our complaint, saying we should come back the following day or go to Zone 2, where the case had earlier been reported. We did not want to confront them as we feared the whole thing might suddenly escalate, leading to breakdown of law and order. We have, therefore, decided to toe the path of peace by appealing to the government and police to come to our aid.”
Going down memory lane, Mrs Alege said her septuagenarian mother duly purchased the land through her elder sister, Abibat Saka-Itogbe, from Ghalib’s late father, Erinfolami, in 1979. She said their mother was, thereafter, issued all necessary documents with which she undertook a survey of the land two years after purchase. She added that their mother, thereafter, built a six room apartment on the said property and had been residing there for over four decades without anybody raising eyebrows until two years ago, when she resolved to put the property on lease and subsequently invited a developer to erect a more befitting structure on the land.
In his response, Ghalib Erinfolami described Muniratu’s claims as tissues of lies, saying that the property in contention dates back over five decades ago.
“If she (Muniratu) claims to be the owner of the property, let her show you her receipt and survey plan. Munirat lied that she bought the land from my father. The land in question did not belong to my father. It was a family land owned by Saka-Itogbe. It was her maternal grandfather, who was given the land by my father to use as a farmland. This man had seven children and Muniratu was one of them.
“There were two ruling houses under Saka Itogbe family-Iloro and Ikemo. This man I am talking about belonged to Agbatiodawo branch of the Saka-Itogbe family. He had some challenges about land from his kinsmen from across the lagoon. My late father, being magnanimous enough, invited him over and gave him that parcel of land for farm cultivation. So, when the man died, he left the property in custody of his wife who had seven children. But when the woman was old and sick, Munirat, who was living with her in Lagos Island ran to Ojo and began erecting a structure on that land without the consent of her other siblings. Then, my father who, of course, was very old at the time, warned her to desist from such act because the land in contention was jointly owned by her other siblings. Against my father’s warning, Muniratu went ahead to build a house property and she had been living there without anybody disturbing her.
“Trouble started last year, when Munirat attempted to give the land to a developer and that was when other family members rose in protest. The matter was taken to the palace of the Olojo of Ojo, who, in his wisdom, invited all contending parties to the property. At the end of the deliberations, the monarch asked them to go back home, hold a family meeting and arrive at a consensus since they are all stakeholders to the property. But, to my surprise, Munirat went to Zone 2 to lodge a formal complaint. She also approached some individuals close to the monarch to prevail on him to swing judgment in her favour. That was why the monarch said since she had not followed the instruction from the palace, but went ahead to lodge a complaint with the police, then they should allow the police to adjudicate on their matter.”
