A septuagenarian, Mr Afolabi Banjoko, has accused the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Oluwatoyin Suarau, of illegally and forcefully hijacking his land on Plot 8 Akinyele Street, off Jonathan Coker Road, Iju Station, in the Oko Oba area of the state, and building on it.

He said he acquired the land from his aunt, Mrs Omolola Alabi, the daughter of the late Jonathan Coker.

According to Banjoko, a retired engineer with the National Oil Company, the commissioner used his position and influence to start building on the land though a case on it was yet to be determined by the court.

The 71-year-old had petitioned Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Commissioner of Police; and the Lagos State House of Assembly to intervene in the matter to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Banjoko explained in the petition to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice dated March 21, 2019, that he was the owner of the land on Plot 8 Akinyele Street with Certificate of Occupancy No. 93/93/2014N issued on March 5, 2014; statutory Right of Occupancy number 93/93/2014N issued on July 5, 2014, and survey plan dated December 21, 1981, issued to him by the Lagos State Government.



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METRO PLUS
Septuagenarian, Ambode’s commissioner battle for choice land
Published
April 15, 2019
Akinpelu Dada

A septuagenarian, Mr Afolabi Banjoko, has accused the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Oluwatoyin Suarau, of illegally and forcefully hijacking his land on Plot 8 Akinyele Street, off Jonathan Coker Road, Iju Station, in the Oko Oba area of the state, and building on it.

He said he acquired the land from his aunt, Mrs Omolola Alabi, the daughter of the late Jonathan Coker.

According to Banjoko, a retired engineer with the National Oil Company, the commissioner used his position and influence to start building on the land though a case on it was yet to be determined by the court.

The 71-year-old had petitioned Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Commissioner of Police; and the Lagos State House of Assembly to intervene in the matter to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Banjoko explained in the petition to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice dated March 21, 2019, that he was the owner of the land on Plot 8 Akinyele Street with Certificate of Occupancy No. 93/93/2014N issued on March 5, 2014; statutory Right of Occupancy number 93/93/2014N issued on July 5, 2014, and survey plan dated December 21, 1981, issued to him by the Lagos State Government.

He accused Suarau and other land grabbers of repeatedly encroaching on the land, which resulted in a case filed at the High Court of Lagos, Ikeja Judicial Division in suit no. ID/163/13 on March 5, 2013.

Another petition written to the governor on April 2, 2019, by Owolabi Dawodu of Owolabi Dawodu & Co, counsel for Banjoko’s aunt, Mrs Omolola Alabi, stated, “We are solicitors to Mrs Omolola Alabi, an 86-year-old Lagosian, who is a direct daughter of the late Jonathan Coker.

“Our client inherited a large parcel of land along with her siblings from her late father on Jonathan Coker Road, Fagba, Lagos, and has been in undisturbed possession since then until recently when Mr Suarau, acting through a notorious gang of land grabbers, invaded the land viet-amis and forcefully took it over.

“We wrote the then governor, who directed the task force to look into it. The land grabbers and thugs were warded off. We also went to court and the case is still pending before the High Court.


“However, instead of Mr Suarau, who we learnt is a member of your cabinet, to await the decision of the court, he has forcefully, with the aid of armed soldiers and policemen, broken into the land, forced open the gate and started construction works. He has threatened to pull down the shops our client built on the land and chase the tenants away.”


Banjoko told PUNCH Metro that his grandfather, the late Jonathan Coker, bought a large expanse of land from the late Josiah Savage, which was covered by a conveyance dated April 19, 1915.

The expanse of land, he noted, was a coffee plantation, with the produce packaged for export.

Upon Coker’s death, his estate was transferred to his children from four wives in accordance with his will.