Ogun State Government has dragged the Onijoko of Ijoko Ota, Oba Fatai Matanmi, the Olu of Orile-Igbon, Oba Yusuf Olasunkanmi and two others, to a State High Court sitting in Abeokuta over allegations of land grabbing and related offences on Tuesday.
They were accused of forcefully taking over and forcibly entering lands belonging to other people contrary to laws against land grabbing in the state.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State, Oluwasina Ogungbade, (SAN) disclosed this in a statement made to newsmen on Tuesday.
Ogungbade stated that while the defendants were presumed innocent until proven guilty, the State had filed those charges as a further demonstration of the State’s commitment to tackle land grabbing and criminal dealings regarding land.
According to facts presented before the court, Oba Matanmi had in 1976 sold a parcel of land for N22,000 to one Madam Irokosu, who fenced the land and later sold it in 2016 to the complainant who immediately took possession after Madam Irokosu died.
Following her demise, Oba Matanmi allegedly started harassing the complainant claiming that late Madam Irokosu owed him a balance of 28,000. In search of peace, the complainant paid N5,000,000 to Oba Matanmi.
Despite the payment, the complainant alleged that Oba Matami continued to harass him, leading to the charges filed in HCT/84R/2025 The State v. Oba Fatai Matanmi.
Similarly, Oba Olasunkanmi was accused of securing entry into land by violence in the Igbesa area of the state and was alleged of using intermediaries, unlawfully appropriated land belonging to the complainant and many other persons.
Hiding under the cover of a judgment obtained against third parties, Oba Olasunkanmi allegedly commissioned the attachment of land and enforcement of the judgment in areas more than one kilometre away from the subject of the judgment, chasing away the legitimate occupants of the said land.
Oba Olasunkanmi will be arraigned on Thursday 25 September 2025.
Also, the State filed charges against two other persons, identified as Chief Lekan Agbogun and Chief Akinbowale Beckley, who sold a complainant’s property in Mosafejo area of Abeokuta, without authority.
The Commissioner for Justice noted that these persons connived and sold a third party’s property to a buyer overseas despite not having a title claim or documents to the land.
Ogungbade, however, reassured members of the public that the State will oppose and correct any land-grabbing activities that are brought to its attention, regardless of the individuals involved.
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