The Solebo family in Ikorodu will soon be smiling to the banks as they have obtained execution order over the landmark judgement granting them ownership of land stretching from Ojogbe to Abattoir right of the TOS Benson road in Ikorodu, including the Ikorodu Local government premise recently leased out to investors.
According to the report gathered, the family had won the case in the High Court in 2001 and also won at the Appeal Court in 2012.
On Monday, July 30, 2018, the family obtained an execution order from the Lagos State High Court to take possession of the said land.
Oriwu Sun had seen Bailiffs and policemen pasting notices of the court judgment and order on the buildings along this right hand side of the road. The houses are estimated to be more than Two hundred (200).
The Bailiffs and security men were also seen packing out belongings from the buildings to show a speedy implementation of the court judgment.
In an interview with Oriwu Sun, Pastor Samson Solebo, secretary to the Solebo family, said his family had been in existence on the said land before late Chief Nurudeen Alowonle and other members of his family took them to court on behalf of the Olota family in 1985.
He explained that Justice Adesanya, while delivering judgement on the case in 2001, said he didn’t know the history of the land and he could not ascertain how the Olota family was connected to the land and as a result, ruled that the whole parcel of the land belong to the Solebo family.
Pastor Solebo said that in 2004, Chief Alowonle appealed against the judgement but his application was summarily dismissed by three Appeal court judges (Justice Biang Akan, Justice John Inyans Okolo and Justice Rita Nosakare Pemu) who unanimously pronounced Solebo family as the authentic owners of the land. Some members of the Mosene family of Ikorodu which included Alhaji (Chief) Shittu Lambo, Taiwo Sogbamu, Sunday Ogbara and Chief Oyebola Lambo, in a bid to join the Court Case as owners of the land, filed an application at the Ikorodu High Court to sue late Alowonle and some members of the Solebo family.
According to Pastor Solebo, while ruling over the application, Hon. Justice M. A. Savage asked the Mosene family to go to court and prove their case if they have interest in the land.
He alleged that Mosene family shunned Justice Savage’s order that they should go to court and instead, brought Ajagungbales (landgrabbers) to the land in 2004 and also wrote several petitions to police headquarters in Abuja which led to the unlawful detention of some of their family members.
Pastor Samson further alleged that when Justice Savage ordered his family to go and execute the court judgement which granted them ownership of the land and their subsequent collection of the enrolment order to execute the judgement, the Mosene family filed another application to stop them from executing the order but added that the application was struck out by Justice Lawal Akapo in 2017 for lack of evidence.
Furthermore, he accused the Mosene family of attempting to stop them from taking possession of the land by writing a petition against their application to the Deputy Sheriff for execution of the court judgement but that they wrote another letter to the Chief Judge of Lagos State who ordered that the Solebo family should be allowed to take possession of the land which they did on July 30, 2018.
Pastor Solebo said his family has obtained ‘form O’ from the Lagos State Government to certify that they have already taken possession of the land and warned that any of the occupants of the land who refuses to enter into agreement or negotiation with the Solebo family will have his or her property demolished.
Also in an interview with Oriwu Sun, the family head, Oloye Oye Solebo, confirmed that his family has won the case and obtained judgment. He said that all the houses along this axis of judgment will be taken over.
The Baale of Ojogbe, Chief Kayode Olomo, however, denied that his house is among the ones to be taken by reason of the said court judgement. According to him, he is making moves to appeal the court judgment since it did not affect his family land because they had lived on this land for more than forty (40) years. He noted that the truth remains that most of these houses said to be affected in this judgement have existed for more than forty (40) years and there are about two hundred (200) of such houses.
When informed that investors had taken over the Ikorodu Local Government premises for multi-billion naira projects, Chief Oloye Solebo said that his family will sit down with those investors to negotiate terms.
In the suits no. IKD/695/CM/2016 between Alhaji M. Oloye Solebo and others versus Chief N. O. Alowonle (late), Justice Savage declared that the Plantiffs (Solebo family) are entitled to the parcel of land along TOS Benson road.
The said the land has its licensed survey plan No. 4775 dated December 12, 1971, which was prepared by Surveyor K.F Ososami.
In his judgment, Hon. Justice Savage held that the Solebo family are the lawful owners of that land. Therefore, pursuant to the warrant by the Deputy Sheriff of Lagos State, whoever remains on this said land would, henceforth, be declared and treated as a trespasser and treated accordingly.
As a result of this judgment, the Solebo family has started repossession of their land by posting notices of the judgment on the affected buildings and removing properties that may obstruct their takeover.
It is still not clear how the Solebo family will treat the tenants and occupants of the houses affected, whether they will enter fresh negotiations or ask for compensation or ratifications.
Also, it is uncertain the reactions of the defendants in this case, Alowonles family, to this judgment, whether or not they will again go to the Supreme Court.
What is clear is the question many are asking, why did it take so long a time, more than thirty (30) years, to get this judgement?