Killings, desecration and destruction over land ownership in Ogun community

By Patience Ogbo

January 19^th and September 20^th are days residents in   Iparafu -Iraye community   in Shagamu local government area  Ogun State will never forget in a hurry . These two days, residents said hell was let loose in the community of over 10,000 people.

Investigation reveals how the community has become a theatre of ‘’war’ following incessant attacks allegedly by a faction  laying claims to the  ownership of the community.  Residents said the faction allegedly employed and brought hoodlums into the community to assist them chase the other faction away and in the process, the hoodlums  on January 19^th shot, maimed , desecrated the ancestral crown  and destroyed properties of their perceived enemies .

The hoodlums allegedly killed a man identified as   Temitope Ariyo and mutilated his body which they stuffed inside a sack and dumped in a bus while policemen stationed in the community were shot at, and humiliated. A policeman was shot in the head while two others are lying critically ill in the hospital.

It was further gathered that following the activities of the suspected hoodlums, the Ogun state police command acting on a petition  from  injured members of the community  and in a bid to avenge the shooting, humiliation  of other policemen sent to the community to maintain peace , on September 20^th, stormed the community  ,engaged the suspected hoodlums in a shootout. It was gathered that over 100 policemen from the Ogun state police command  were on ground in Iraye  on that fateful day as they were accused of shooting indiscriminately leading to  destruction of  houses, other property  and killing of a young man identified as Fatia  Balogun Adakale, a father of three.

Police sources had claimed that Adekale was one of the suspected hoodlums who allegedly engaged them in a shootout and was gunned down in the process. However,  his family has since refuted the allegation stating that Adekale was fleeing from   his house when the policemen opened fire on him before he could scamper for safety. Adekale died on September 25^th following the gunshot wound he sustained.  Following the killings, the two factions have written separate  petitions to the police authority alleging that   policemen from the Ogun state police command  has taken side with one faction  while  the Force Criminal Investigation Department FCID has taken side with the other faction.

Speaking on the violence in the community,  Chief Balogun Kalejaiye  who was alleged to be one of the masterminds allegedly  employing policemen from the Ogun State police command to dislodge persons contesting the land with his family, denied the allegation in an interview with our correspondent.  He spoke on the violence of January 19^th and September 20^th. He said ‘’ The ancestral crown (of Iraye)  belongs to my family. Concerning   that situation of January 19^th, my younger brother Saheed   was in charge of keeping the crown, when  Ganiyu Lateef Eleda and his gang made him to wear the crown,  prostrated before him after they assaulted him .  They beat him up and blood was gushing out from his head and other parts of his body.  They forced him to wear the crown and carry the staff of office while they jeer at him , paraded him around the village.  Eleda and his gang abducted my younger brother, with one Temitayo  Ariyo and  one  Lukman Lawal . They separated Ariyo and they killed him.   Ariyo and Lukman ran into my younger brother’s apartment  before he was gruesomely murdered but they caught up with them there .  Eleda led cultists attacking everyone and our efforts to get him and his gang arrested to face the law have  been frustrated by Admin FCID  Abuja  backing them. It was the FCID Abuja  that  released one Wasiu Olaribigbe a member of Eleda’s  gang  since that January 19^th, they have been in Iraye  and   whenever they are arrested,  they get   released  by  the FCID Abuja .  They have their paid agents in Abuja .We have been having challenges since 2012. In February this year, I was in Abuja , we arrested one of the cultists called Danladi, with the help of STS Abuja but the FCID came and collected Danladi and they released him . The  FCID Administration department is backing them up . I had to flee from the community. My house was attacked and ridden with bullets by Eleda led cultists. We have written a petition to the police to arrest  Eleda and his conspirators.

Speaking on the ownership of the village, Chief Kalejaiye said  ‘’We are the Mayangbe and Bolumade  royal family of Iraye Owa  and we are the  bonafide  owner of Iraye. People are contesting the ownership of Iraye community with us .  They said that they own it with us but we said no. We are in court over the ownership. People are claiming to be our family members but we do not know them. Ganiyu Lateef  Eleda is not a member of our family. He is from Osun state.  Ganiyu Eleda was invited by a supposed member of the family to help him drive us away in 2019.   These supposed members are calling themselves, the Mawelu Otunye family , they derive their claim  on a government gazette of 1957, 1959 , as to the chieftaincy title of that land. The name in that chieftaincy does not represent us. This issue of membership has been going on and when we grew up, we try to find out how we can manage the situation. My elder brother out of being over bearing and out of his quest of seeking  the Olotoship , he went to  align with them because we did not allow him, but that gazette of 1957//59 has been declared noir  and void. Before the gazette came out, the town has been existing but when they wrote that gazette , they did not take contribution from the original  owners of the land . In 1983 and 1979, when the gazette was presented, they have being in court. In 2008, a court judgment declared that gazette noir and void. What that means is that we should go to the drawing board.  Sequel to that, based on that gazette, there was a term osf settlement, on land ownership that was taken from that gazette. It was my senior brother that instituted the civil case and the criminal case, I was the one charged on the criminal case but I have been discharged and acquitted .We are on the civil case, but we trying to see how we can settle out of court but it is the people that have taken advantage that are giving us problem. These people are led by  Eleda  and  his other conspirators.

Speaking on the allegation that he brought the Ogun state policemen to invade Iraye community on September 20^th, Chief  Kalejaiye said ‘’On the September 20^th, It was the Ogun state police command that came with about 30 Hilux buses with about 100 policemen to flush out the suspected cultists led by Eleda. A  team  of policemen  were stationed in the community to keep watch after they had flush out the cultists but these cultists hiding in the bush, came out and started shooting at the policemen. The police had to defend themselves. The fact  there is  that they have attacked many policemen. There is a policeman called Darlington that was shot, policemen from STS were injured and shot at by Eleda and his gang’’.

An investor in Iraye community who is a real estate mogul in Lagos State and the  Chief Executive Officer of Omolamina Global Ventures Limited (OGL), Otunba Kamorudeen Lamina, popularly known as Sir K Oluwo, has decried the violence in Iraye.

He said ‘’ Those causing trouble in that place are being led by Ganiu Lateef popularly known as Eleda.  Eleda is a terrorist and policemen from the Ogun State police command and Abuja are looking for him and he has gone into hiding. Let him show his face if he will not be arrested with  his cult group for  crime committed in that community and for shooting policemen . Eleda is  boasting   that nobody can arrest him because he has a retired DIG from Sagamu supporting him and men from the FCID Abuja are behind him led by one Inspector Gambo. Is the Nigeria police Force not one anymore?  One criminal and his gang are allowed to cause havoc , assault, shot policemen in the head, beat policemen up and another set of policemen from Abuja will come to defend him and  release him and his gang members  whenever they are arrested by the Ogun state police command .I am  really surprised  at what is happening . Eleda and his gang have scared investors away from Iraye. I have not received any returns on my investment in Iraye due to the violence   Eleda and his gang perpetrated in Iraye  . I bought 40 acres of land at Iraye since 2014 from the Mayangbe and Bolumade family with   all the documents given to me. In 2015, some members of the family took me alongside the head of the family and some members of the family to court over the sale of the land, which case is still pending at the High Court, Shagamu. This is one of challenges we faced in this business.  Since the case has been in court, I have not visited Iraye for more than five years  and I have never assigned anybody there because they have turned the place to a den of cultists which has made me to  lose  properties worth more than N500million due to cult activities .Some of the challenges in acquiring land is that some members of the families will always deny that they were not part of the money earlier paid for the land and would request for another payment or disturb the construction work on the site. To avoid igniting trouble or obstruction of business, we often pay another money or we go to the court. This is really affecting our businesses as we often pay twice the Mayangbe and Bolumade families have involved the police to arrest Eleda , one  Yinka a.k.a 2ic, Sunny Orepe a.k.a Danladi, Dada Doyin, Anifowose a.ka. Sir K Offin, Elekun mefa, Murphy OPC, Mosuru Yalumo and Wasiu Aderibigbe a.k.a Epo are members of Eleda gang . They have gone into hiding after the police from the Ogun state command stormed the community on September 20^th to dislodge them. Eleda shold show his face if he is innocent. I am  appealing to the Ogun State governor, His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun and the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, to look into the Iraye issue  because the policemen from Elewe -Eran has once arrested one of the boys for murder. The Police officer called Inspector Gambo  from the Administration  Department of the FCID was said to have called for the file from the Homicide Section in Elewe-Eran. They took the suspect to Abuja and released him back into the community to continue to terrorize innocent people. This same Inspector Gambo  will help the cultists to write  a counter petitions to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) with phantom allegations which have no bearing with land.  Iraye has become the home of cultists. Cultists from different states and are non indigenes of Iraye have dislodged the original owners of the community ’’