A retired civil servant in Ogun state, Akinlolu Erukilede, 76-year-old, who hails from Igbira in Ondo State has petitioned the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun over threat to lives and destruction of properties at Elewa Village, Orelope Community Development Area, along Igboora road, Abeokuta, the state capital.
In a petition to the state governor, Erukilede accused Mr. Keshinro, Akeem Iyeru and Saheed Iyeru for unlawfully possession and interference on his landed property, located at Elewa Village, Orelope CDA, along Igboora road, Abeokuta.
He said the property was a large expense of land approximately three acres bought from the Molomo Family of the town in 1973, which the title was duly transferred under the traditional land owing system, noted that his family had been enjoying peaceful possession of the land property with sorts of food and cash crops.
He said it was recently that land grabbers popularly called ‘Omo onile’ started maiming and threating the occupants of the land which became a torn in the flesh, saying that all efforts taken earlier in petitioning the necessary government agencies which include the Nigerian Police and previous administration to resolve the issue met a brick wall.
He alleged that some times in 2009, some unknown hoodlums violently attacked him and one of his sons (Oluwarotimi Erukilede), and also chased away law-abiding members of the community and farm workers whose source of their livelihood tied to the pieces of land away, threatened to continue the attack and kidnap his son, if he refused to vacate the land.
He said that on the 10th of April 2018, the issue took another dimension, which some hoodlums under the leadership of Iyeru Akeem, the Chairman of dreaded National Union Of Road Transport Workers (NUTRTW), threatened to maim and kill anyone that attempt to prevent them from taking over the land.
He added that they threatened to abduct his son, (Oluwarotimi) who has been at the vanguard of repelling these hoodlums with the existing legal framework, and several overtures spanning which up to 10 years now to engage them, through the Molomo family, NPF and the elders of community for the need to resolve the matter amicably proved abortive.
He sight section 43 of the Nigerian Constitution in his petition which protects to acquire and own immovable land and property anywhere in the country, irrespective of tribe or religion, noting that he sees no reason why his life and entire family would be threatened by individual or some group of individuals for just no reason or selfish purposes.
He urged the governor of the state, as the number one Chief-Security-Officer in the state to enforce the provisions of the law (H.B. No 03/2016) to end the nuisance of those land grabbers on his landed property and sustain attacks and threats on his family and the entire community.
The petitioner requested the governor to order an investigation into the threat to his life, family members and the entire community, keeping in mind that the violent nature and antics of land grabbers; who in their desperate bids to grab other people’s land would unleash mayhem on the land and the people of the community at large.