OLORUNDARE ENIMOLA, Lagos
Alhaji Nureni Oluwo, the head of the Oluwo family, Ibeju-Lekki has called on Oba Waliu Olasunkanmi, the Onibeju of Ibeju-Lekki and other unknown parties to refrain from further encroachment on the 74 hectres of land at Bogije, 50 acres of land at Elesikan and 75 acres at Igbojiya, Ibeju-Lekki for which they obtained judgement in their favour on 25 June 2025 at the High Court of Lagos State, after 18 years of legal battle.
Oluwo at a Media parley with family members cited judgement made from suit no: LD/828/2007, by Justice Adebayo Oyebanji of the High Court of Lagos State in the Lagos Judicial Division Holden at Court No. 11, explained how they got judgement against Nurudeen Pedro and six others on the contested 74 hectres of land located at Bogije and how Onibeju of Ibeju-Lekki in defiance to the judgement is conniving with the defendants along with some unknown people to encroach on the land and are forcefully selling portions to unsuspecting buyers.
Adding that the Onibeju in further ploy to weaken the family from having grip on the disputed lands, went ahead to dethrone a family member - Chief Tajudeen Oluwo, who is the Baale of Bojia, installed about 15 years ago, only to replace him with a total stranger.
Narrating further, Alhaji Nureni said the Onibeju through street urchins has being removing the judgement notification used by the family to notify unsuspecting buyers and dwellers of the property about the present status of the land for necessary compliance.
He stressed that Onibeju's actions has stalled the implementation of the Court's judgement, fuelling the resistance of illegal occupants of the land from making ratifications, encouraging illegal sales of portions of the land, with several threats made to the lives of the Oluwo family.
Alhaji Nureni Oluwo therefore called on Oba Waliu Olasunkanmi, the Onibeju of Ibeju-Lekki to allow the Court's judgement to prevail and to reinstate their brother, Baale Tajudeen Oluwo back as the Baale of Igbojiya community, he should also remove his men from the land and stop the illegal sales land portions to unsuspecting buyers, while calling on CP Olohundare Jimoh, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu of Lagos State to prevail on him.
In his response, Oba Waliu Razak Olasunkanmi, the Onibeju of Ibeju-Lekki declared the accusations made by Alhaji Nureni Oluwo as mere fabrications and conjectures, distancing himself from such acts, pointing out that, it is Alhaji Oluwo and some few members of the family that wanted to edge him out of his possession as a bonafide member of the Oluwo family.
Oba Olasunkanmi said, he is one of the five members of the Oluwo family (with his name on the originating writ of summon) who took Nurudeen Pedro and six others to Court over the disputed Bogije land in 2007 and remained in the litigation process until the judgement was obtained in June 2025, only to find that his name has been surreptitiously removed from the claimants that got judgement in their favour.
Alhaji Nureni Oluwo in his response agreed to the assertion of Oba Olasunkanmi of being a member of the Oluwo family and assenting that he was part of the five family members who took the matter to Court in 2007, but that Oba Olasunkanmi's name was removed following the removal of Chief Tajudeen Oluwo as Baale of Igbojiya late last year by the Oba.
On the removal Chief Tajudeen Oluwo as Baale of Igbojiya, Oba Olasunkanmi said the removal of Chief Tajudeen has nothing to do with the family, but is strictly and purely a traditional chieftaincy affair, which is under his purview as the paramount ruler of Ibeju-Lekki who oversees the affairs of each community, appointing Baale's and removing those erring and contravening the obaship extant laws.
In the case of Chief Tajudeen, Oba Olasunkanmi in his words said, "he committed some infractions against the ethics of his position as Baale for which I repeatedly warned him, with threats to remove him, but he remained unwavering and after a year of waiting to see the necessary changes without seeing the desired improvement and change, I decided to remove him for a year without first appointing anyone in replacement.
"Within these period, none of the family members came to his defence until I appointed another Baale. The case of his removal should not in anyway be connected to the Bogije land matter." Oba Olasunkanmi said.
According to him, the matter will be resolved if the rest of his family members will do the following: rewrite his name back as a beneficiary of the judgement won; that they remove their men on the land and to constitute a committee to oversee the proper sharing of the disputed land to concerned parties.
Afterwards, Oba Olasunkanmi as a peace loving monarch, promised to look into the case of Chief Tajudeen Oluwo, the erstwhile Baale of Igbojiya with the view to settling the matter judiciously.
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