Ogun government files criminal charges against two monarchs over ‘land grabbing’

The Ogun government says it has initiated criminal proceedings against two traditional rulers and some individuals accused of land grabbing in different parts of the state.

Oluwasina Ogungbade, the state’s attorney-general and commissioner for justice, announced the move in a statement on Tuesday.

One of the cases involves Fatai Matanmi, the Onijoko of Ijoko Ota.

According to the commissioner, Matanmi allegedly sold a parcel of land in 1976 for N22,000 to a woman identified as Madam Irokosu, who has since died.

The late Irokosu was said to have fenced the property and later transferred it to a buyer in 2016.

However, after her death, the monarch allegedly returned to lay claim to the land, insisting that the late Irokosu still owed him a balance of N28,000 from the original transaction.

Ogungbade said despite the new owner of the land paying Matanmi N5 million in a bid to end the dispute, there have continued to be cases of harassment against, which prompted the criminal case filed before the high court in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The commissioner said another monarch, Yusuf Olasunkanmi, the Olu of Orile-Igbon in the Igbesa area of the state, was also involved in using intermediaries to forcefully take over land that did not belong to him.

Ogungbade said the monarch allegedly relied on a court judgement that was not related to the disputed property and extended enforcement beyond one kilometre away from the area covered by the ruling, displacing lawful occupants in the process.

Olasunkanmi is scheduled to appear in court on September 25.

The commissioner added that two other chiefs — Lekan Agbogun and Akinbowale Beckley — unlawfully sold land in the Mosafejo area of Abeokuta.

He noted that despite an existing building on the property, the duo allegedly conspired to sell it to a buyer abroad without valid documents or any legitimate title.

Speaking on the charges, Ogungbade said, “While these defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the state has filed these charges as a further demonstration of the state’s commitment to tackle land grabbing and criminal dealings regarding land.”

“The state government assures the public that no matter the personalities involved, where the facts warrant and it is in the public interest to do so, the state will resist and redress all land-grabbing actions that come to its notice.”