MICHAEL AKINOLA
One of the Counsels to the estate of Late Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele has denied media reports that an acclaimed site worker was shot to death in the Agidingbi area of Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the Counsel to the Estate also commended the security apparatus in the State for preventing bloodshed and restoring law and order in 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, Panti, Yaba, for further investigations.
One of the counsels to the late international businessman, Adeola Ibrahim, while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, disclosed that the unidentified deceased man was hit 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. In a bid to escape, he drove recklessly and carelessly, hitting many of his armed colleagues.
Barrister Ibrahim, 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 signals to the public to draw unecesaary sympathy from the public”.
The legal practitioner narrated, “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 by Justice Andrews Obaseki”.
Barrister Ibrahim, who blamed the Lagos State Government for the crisis, stated that it all started when acclaimed allotees of the government were trying to develop an improperly acquired land.
He noted, “In 1963, the government of the Western Region acquired approximately 601 hectares of land from Oyedele Ashamu in the area and the title were 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 vested in Late Emmanuel Ashamu Oyedele.”
He also added, “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.”
According to him, “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 Congress (OPC) members and hoodlums to the site and were illegally occupying the property.”
He also stated, “The Zone 2 Police Command initially attempted to intervene. But when they arrived at the scene, they discovered that the armed hoodlums were overwhelming”.
“The Police and other security operatives prevented a bloodbath as the hoodlums, who were stationed at the site, were ready for war. You can display your clips as a single column – just tap on the settings icon above.”
