Chief Kameel Adisa Dada, the Head of the Regun Descendant family of Ikorodu, has described the allegations made against him and some members of his family by Alhaji (Chief) Nosiru Lawal Akolemobasi, who among other allegations, alleged that the Nitel land, a huge expanse of land located along Obafemi Awolowo road, Oke-Ota Ona, Ikorodu, is jointly owned by Regun family, his family (Sanmolu) and two other families (Aro Ilero Efolu Aige and Ajisebiaramecca families) as a blantant lie and a pure figment of his imagination.
Chief Dada, while speaking with Oriwu Sun over the alleged land matter between his family and Chief Akolemobasi’s family, disclosed that the said land (Nitel land), including the entire Agbala and the land where Theological Seminary was built, is solely owned by the Regun family, stating that any person or family that claims joint ownership of the land is engaging in fallacy. He said there was never a joint ownership of the land with other families, adding that it was Chief Akolemobasi who went about telling false stories about the land and also enlisting the support of other families and a rebel from Regun family, Mr. Sharafa Dada, to embark on the unjust claim to the joint ownership of the land.
Chief Dada explained that his family’s ownership of the land was given legal confirmation in a court judgement delivered at a Lagos High Court by Justice Ademola Adeoba in 1963, adding that the judgement was further affirmed by the Appeal Court and Supreme Court in 1967. He also clarified that the land was acquired from Regun family by the Federal Government in 1960 and that the government had already invited representatives of the family to defend the gazette used in acquiring the land.
Chief Dada further explained that the processes of reversal of the acquisition is currently a subject matter of the Lagos State High Court in case No. IKD/1895/2015 as the family is battling to retrieve complete ownership of the land from some persons, who bought parts of the land from the Moribund Nigeria Telecommunication Company (NITEL).
While revealing how his face-off with Chief Akolemobasi started, the Head of the Regun family said it all began when the said Chief mobilized his family members and Sanusi (Arulogun) to the land to excavate sand despite a court injunction that all parties should maintain status quo over the land matter.
He stated that all efforts made to stop them from excavating sand on the land were to no avail and that when Akolemobasi and his cohorts started issuing threats, they wrote a petition to the Nigerian Police Force, Zone Intervention Squad at Ladegboye, Ikorodu Zone 2 Annex, stating, among other things, conducts likely to cause breach of public peace, threat to life, malicious damage, and flagrant disrespect to court order by Chief Akolemobasi, Mr. Kawojue Adedoyin and others.
Chief Dada stated that when the police invited the two parties for questioning, he and his family tendered several documents dating as far back as 1960 to 2017 to prove their sole ownership of the land. Copies of the documents, which included judgement giving the title of the land to Regun family, ruling and court order for status quo among others, were shown to our reporter. He explained further that on the advice of the police, both parties had a meeting at Chief Gbenga Kuti’s office in October 2017, where both party agreed to desist from any act capable of undermining the court case and that anyone or family that has any document indicating joint ownership should tender it in court.
Chief Dada alleged that despite the agreement reached at the meeting, Chief Akolemobasi and his cohorts’ encroachment and excavating on the land continued unabated, adding that when those, whose land fall within the portion where the illegal excavation was being carried out complained to his family, they explained steps they had taken to address the matter and also implored them to take further steps to assist the family.
According to him, the property owners wrote a petition to Abuja, which led to the invasion of the land by a joint team of army and police, who forcefully ejected those employed by Chief Akolemobasi to excavate sand while a caterpillar and other excavating equipment were equally confiscated.
He labelled Chief Akolemobasi as a landgrabber and accused him of illegally selling part of the land belonging to the PIBE Company, one of the property owners on the controversial land. On the allegation that the petition he wrote to the police led to the brutal arrest of Chief Akolemobasi in November 2017, Chief Regun said he wrote the petition after he learnt that Chief Akolemobasi had written a petition against him that he and some police were laying siege at his residence at Itunpate in Ikorodu. Chief Dada, however, denied instigating the police to brutalize Chief Akolemobasi, saying that he only wrote a petition and how the police choose to act upon the petition his nothing to do with him.
On the claim by Chief Akolemobasi that the Federal Government has released the land to the Lagos State Government, which in turn gave letter of free from acquisition and permission to work on the land to his family, Chief Regun claimed that investigations have revealed that Chief Akolemobasi’s family does not have any connection to the land, adding that the layout tendered by the family at Ladegboye Police Station only showed their land at Akasolori and the gazette releasing part of the land by the Lagos State Government. He equally described as false the claim that he agreed to release part of the land to the Sanmolu family and that he demanded 50 percent of the portion belonging to them, wondering why he would agree to cede or demand for part of the land belonging to him and his family.
Chief Dada stated that members of the Regun family are law abiding and would do anything within the ambit of the law to protect what rightfully belongs to them. Also, Hon. Gbenga Oshin, a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Secretary of Regun Family, in his own brief reaction, stated that the 1963 court judgement has effectively laid to rest any doubt over the sole entitlement of Regun family to the land. He described as mere fallacy, the claim by Chief Akolemobasi that certain portions of the land belong to his family (Sanmolu) and some other families.
Hon Oshin said despite the attacks and threat by Chief Akolemobasi and his cohorts, Regun family has tried to pursue their case over the ownership of the land legally because they don’t want anything to tarnish the image of their reputable family