Septuagenarian widow alleges harassment, threats to life over property, seeks Sanwo-Olu, IGP‘s intervention

A widow Madam Muniratu Saka-Itogbe (nee Abdulsalam Balogun), has called on the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Inspector-General of Police to rescue her from some interests she said are bent on forcefully taking over her property.

She said at present, a new building is being erected on her property located at No 24, Olojo Drive, Ojo Town, Lagos, State.

Muniratu is alleging one Ghalib Erinfolami (aka Adakeja), the incumbent Balogun of Ojo and Goke Ayilara, of working in conniviance with some interests within the Saka-Itogbe family because of their closeness to the palace of the monarch of the town.

Muniratu, a septugenarian, is also alleging threats to life, saying her children are also being harrassed by Erinfolami’s aides over the matter which according to her, had been in contention since last year.

As a widow, Muniratu said she had been surviving from the little proceeds she receives as rent from a house she erected on the property and lived in for about forty years.

Joining Muniratu was also her daughter Mrs Tawa Alege (nee Balogun) who recalled that in November 2022, matters over the propery were taken to the palace of the Olojo of Ojo, who, after series of interventions and deliberations, directed that no party must trespass on the said property until all contentious issues were fully resolved

Alege said she and her siblings are daily being subjected to consistent harrassment and threats by Ayilara and his partners over the said property.

Recounting her ordeal, Muniratu said about two years ago, she decided to move out of the building having lived there for over four decades, ostensibly to put the property on lease. She said while they were still shopping for a befitting client , Erinfolami and Ayilara started making secret moves to sell off the land, hence she had to make a formal report at Olojo’s palace as well as Zone 2, in Alagbon.
She however said the decision by the palace that all parties should stay action was also communicated at Zone 2.

Muniratu said about a month ago, she and her children noticed that the said property had been cordoned off. She explained that she and her children were shocked a few days afterwards, when some thugs led by Erinfolami and Ayilara arrived the site with a bulldozer to level her building.

According to her, she immediately reported the matter to the police station at both Ojo, and Zone 2 in Alagbon respectively, to stop the planned demolition, to no avail. She said when they approached Zone 2, where the matter had been reported last year, they were informed they (police) were neither aware nor gave the go ahead for the demolition of the structure.

Muniratu said: “When we noticed what was happening, one of my sons quickly rushed to Ojo police station to lodge a complaint so the police can stop them from demolishing my building.

“Aside, we know that in Lagos State, it’s a criminal offense for any one to bring down a building without the consent of the owner. But to my surprise, the police refused to enter our complaint saying we should come back the following day or go to Zone 2 where the case had earlier been filed.

READ ALSO:Gov Sanwo-Olu charges colleagues to invest in people-oriented projects, programmes

“We did not want to confront them as we feared the whole thing might suddenly escalate, leading to breakdown of law and order. We have therefore decided to toe the path of peace by appealing to the government and police to come to our aid.”

Going down memory lane, Mrs Alege said their septugenarian mother duly purchased the land through her elder sister Abibat Saka-Itogbe from Erinfolami, who was the late father of Balogun Adakeja in 1979. She said their mother was thereafter issued all necessary documents with which she undertook a survey of the land two years after. She added that their mother thereafter built a six room apartment on the said property and had been residing there for over four decades without anybody raising eyebrows until two years ago when she resolved to put the property on lease and subsequently invited a developer to erect a more befitting structure on the land.

“At present, Goke Ayilara is now claiming to be the head of Saka-Itogbe family, but we know he is not and his action is illegal,” Alege continued. “Unfortunately, the Saka-Itogbe family is polarised over the property in contention because of its value. While some family members have compromised, we still have other family members who are solidly behind our mother and they believed she’s being exploited, but they are afraid to come out and speak in the open for fear of being attacked physically and spiritually because these people are very fetish,” she concluded

In his response, Ghalib Erinfolami described Muniratu’s claims as tissues of lies, saying the property in contention dates back over five decades.

“If she (Muniratu) claims to be the owner of the property, let her show you her receipt and survey plan,” Erinfolami said.

He continued: “Munirat lied that she bought the land from my father. The land in question did not belong to my father. It was a family land owned by Saka-Itogbe. It was her maternal grandfather who was given the land by my father to use as a farmland. This man had seven children and Muniratu was one of them.

“There were two ruling houses under Saka Itogbe family-Iloro and Ikemo. This man I am talking about belonged to Agbatiodawo branch of the Saka-Itogbe family. He had some challenges about land from his kinsmen from across the lagoon. My late father being magnanimous enough, invited him over and gave him that parcel of land for farm cultivation. So when the man died, he left the property in custody of his wife who had seven children. But when the woman was old and sick, Munirat who was living with her in Lagos Island ran to Ojo and began erecting a structure on that land without the consent of her other siblings. Then my father who of course was very old at the time, warned her to desist from such act because the land in contention was jointly owned by her other siblings. Against my father’s warning, Muniratu went ahead to build a house property and she had been living there without anybody disturbing her.

“Trouble started last year when Munirat attempted to give the land to a developer and that was when other family members rose in protest. The matter was taken to the palace of the Olojo of Ojo who in his wisdom invited all contending parties to the property. At the end of the deliberations, the monarch asked them to go back home, hold a family meeting and arrive at a consensus since they are all stakeholders to the property. But to my surprise, Munirat went to Zone 2 to lodge a formal complaint. She also approached some individuals close to the monarch to prevail on him to swing judgment in her favour.That was why the monarch said since she had not followed the instruction from the palace but went ahead to lodge a complaint with the police, then they should allow the police to adjudicate on their matter.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now