Despite the creation of a department and a task force against illegal takeover of another person’s lands and properties under the Ministry of Justice in Lagos state, suspected criminals who still find the illicit ‘business’ lucrative seem undeterred.
At least, this is what the harrowing experience of a couple, Mr. Olusegun Ajayi and his wife, Oyeronke Ajayi, with a property located on Plot 170B, Oyadiran Estate, Sabo, Yaba area of Lagos state shows.
What started like a cruel joke about three weeks ago for the family was said to have assumed a more threatening dimension with the husband, an Auditor by Profession and his wife, a Business Management Consultant, being subjected to intimidation, harassment and indeed, threats to their lives over their property.
“On Thursday, March 20, 2025, we got a call from our plumber who was carrying out a repair work in the property that some policemen numbering thirty (30) came with guns and locked our property and put a seal of a Task Force from the Office of the Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Nothing could be more shocking for us in a property we bought about 15 years ago?” Mrs Ajayi narrated their ordeal to the NPO Reports.
“These men collected all the keys to the property including the ones to the inner rooms.”
She said that the plumber told her that he had been arrested together with his co-worker and another neighbours by name Michael and were all forcefully taken to the “Arena” where the command office of the Lagos State Task Force of Environment is located.
“The seal they placed on our gate, with a stern warning that no one must remove it, stated that we had contravened environmental regulations and edict of Lagos state. So, we wondered what environmental offences we had committed and even if that was so, there was no prior warning before a seal order from the Office of the Governor.”
According to Mrs Ajayi, the plumber, after allegedly being subjected to series of threats at the office of the Task Force was released in the evening of that day.
“We were surprised to be told, at the Arena office in Oshodi, that the reason for the seal order was actually not environmental in nature but that we needed to go and meet one Kunle Ogunbufunmi, who claimed that the property did not belong to us.”
It was at this point that confusion became deeper. Mrs Ajayi said this was a property they had bought 15 years ago and which they had continuously occupied since then.
She added that principal members of the Ogunbufunmi family sold this property about 20 years ago.
However, NPO Reports gathered that when the Ministry of Environment and Water Sanitation was notified of the development, the commissioner, Hon. Tokunbo Wahab was said to have demanded from the Chairman of the Task Force what the issues were. Unable to provide any evidence of violations of environmental regulations, the commissioner was said to have advised the Task Force Chairman to order his men to remove the seal sticker and never dabble into property ownership issues again.
The couple therefore found out that the ‘Seal Order’ was a mere ruse to get the owners of the property out in order for the alleged usurpers to take over.
However, after the seal order was removed, those who removed it left the padlock on.
But in addition, it was found that they then left on the fence of the property a message: THIS PROPERTY IS NOT FOR SALE: Buyers beware. There is a Case in Court. Contact Landlords Lawer (sic).
But when the lawyer was called via the phone number on the inscription on the property, to explain what was happening, he directed us to go and meet the owner for further discussions.
We then asked where and how do we get the said owner that had refused to show his face, he became furious replying that he was just a lawyer to the family and not in any position to say anything.
When we then queried him why his number was written on the message on the wall when he could not provide any useful information, he hung up. We later searched the number on true caller apps and the name attached to the number is “Ayo Ogunbufunmi lawyer” which indicates that he is part of the gang trying everything possible to grab the property illegally using the instrumentality of the state power instead of approaching the courts to seek redress if they are sure of their case.
“There is no case in court as far as our property is concerned and this is the 15th year we have had this property. It was obvious that was an afterthought after they realised that the method of using the Government Task Force to force us out of the house had failed,” Mrs Ajayi stated.
She informed the NPO Reports that they approached the Sabo Police station where the matter was reported.
After days of being locked out, Mrs Ajayi said they informed the police of their plan to remove the padlock seeking the presence of a few officers of the station.
According to her, they also went ahead to clean out the inscriptions on the fence warning of a “non-existent court case.”
“We had to clean what they wrote on the wall and replaced it with our own to show that any trespasser would be prosecuted. But the moment we started writing that, some of the thugs that were stationed not far away from the building came to challenge us.
“When the situation was becoming threatening we quickly called the DCO of Sabo Station to inform him. The police sent more policemen and ordered all of us to come down to the station.”
NPO Reports Correspondent, who witnessed the scene when the hoodlums came heard their leader asking for how long the property had belonged to the Ajayis to which the husband said he would not answer “a meaningless question.”
He asked the leader of the hoodlums what his steps would be if he found a trespasser on his own property.
It was at the station, she narrated that the leader of the hoodlums who came to challenge them on the property allegedly confessed they were being sent to challenge them for removing the padlock placed on the property and to ensure that nobody is allowed to access the property.
The police at Sabo repeatedly asked the suspect to call the person to come to the station so that he can present his case for peaceful resolution, but the person refused to show up except to keep assuring the suspect that someone would come around to ensure his bail.
After spending about 4 hours at the police station, Mrs Ajayi said some people wearing Task Force uniforms arrived at the Sabo police station.
According to her, it turned out that the same policemen that came to the property to seal it about a week earlier were the same who came to the police station demanding the transfer of the matter to the Task Force office in Oshodi.
“They came again to the station asking the DPO to release us to follow them to the Arena, Oshodi Task Force Office and the case should be transferred based on the order of the commissioner of police for investigation.
“We were surprised at such audacity. For us to follow you to an office where we knew that your boss had been queried for dabbling into matters which did not concern the Task Force? It was at that point that it was clear to the Police that someone somewhere is playing out a script.
“To us, there is no other evidence to know that some men of the task force unit at Oshodi are being used by the faceless Kunle Ogunbufunmi to illegally take over our property when the court is there as the rightful place to seek redress for such disputes assuming without conceding that we are not even the owners.”
Meanwhile, NPO Reports found that the couple had submitted a petition to the office of the Lagos State Anti-Grabbing agency under the Ministry of Justice.
A copy of the petition obtained by the NPO Reports showed that their lawyer narrated how officials of the Task Force had been engaged by some unknown people to take over their property.
The petition read: “We act as Solicitors to Mrs Oyeronke Ajayi who shall for the purpose of this letter referred to as our client and on whose behalf we write to your esteem office about the nefarious activities of members of the Lagos Sate Taskforce of Environmental Sanitation in conjunction with some unknown land grabbers acting on the instruction of one Ogunbufunmi Kunle within the vicinity of the Estate.
“Members of the said State Taskforce with office at Arena Shopping Complex, Oshodi, Lagos and some unknown persons in conjunction with one KUNLE OGUNBUFUNMI (0803-451-2434) stormed the property of our client yesterday the 20th day of March, 2025, arrested and dehumanized workers of our client who were carrying out some plumbing repairs in the premises.
“It was like a scene only seen in movies that the Taskforce carried out this humiliating and degrading action under the supervision of some land grabbers. Our client’s property has been under lock and keys since yesterday while they left a stern warning that our client should not go near the property again because, according to them, the property belongs to another person.
“We have it on good authority that the Taskforce equally ejected residents of some adjoining properties and directed owners; including our client to go and negotiate with the rightful owners if they are still interested in owning the property. We find this action unlawful, illegal, and affront to the law of the state. The Taskforce does not have any right whatsoever to evict our client from her property…”
As at Friday April 4th evening when the parties left the police station in Sabo, Yaba, it was not sure the next move of the suspected property grabbers.
“It looks like Kunle Ogunbufunmi is hiding somewhere sending all these thugs. But what they should know is that they cannot use the Task Force on the environment to intimidate us. Already, we are waiting for him to show up at the Land-grabbing department in the Ministry of Justice to show to the whole world how Plot 170B Oyadiran Estate belongs to any other person other than we that bought it with all our documents intact.”
Attempts to speak with Ogunbunfumi were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls placed on his phone number while he also did not respond to an inquiry forwarded to his telephone line.
In the same vein, NPO Reports’ efforts to speak with officials of the Task Force were unsuccessful as its spokesman, Raheem Gbadeyanka did not answer calls placed to his phone line while he did not respond to the message sent to him.
“Whoever they are, they must realise that we won’t surrender our property to anyone no matter how powerful they think they are,” Mrs Ajayi vowed