Governor Dapo-Abiodun

The residents of Magboro in Ogun on Sunday appealed to the Ogun Government over the forceful take over of their properties by land grabbers popularly known as “Omo Onile”.

The residents made the appeal to Gov. Dapo Abiodun in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the government should urgently come to the aid of the community.

NAN reports that the land grabbers have been terrorising the community for the past two weeks pasting warrant for possession on houses or they pay a sum of N10 million.

The notices pasted on the houses were alleged to be a court judgment obtained in favour of the Omo Onile.

The land grabbers threatened those who refused to pay forfeiture of their properties.

The Omo Onile visited areas such as Gasoline, Ibasa, Igodo, Magada, Akintonde and other areas.

The General Secretary, Magboro/Arepo Community Development Council (CDC), Mr David Ajayi, said the government needed to act fast to forestall a breakdown of law and order in the community, adding that the court judgment obtained was fictitious.

“I really don’t know how the judgment came about, but the Omo Onile is an eyesore in the community, they can’t just come from the blues to create confusions in the community.

“They come and start to paste fictitious court injunction on houses in Magboro, asking us to pay certain money after we have initially paid for the lands purchased.

“The Chairman, Community Development Association in Gasoline, Magboro, Mr Olatunji Morin, told NAN that the Omo Onile were out to exploit the residents and landlords, adding that only the government could save the situation.

“We residents are all in this together because the nature at which the Omo Onile are parading themselves is threatening the peace of the community.

“The Omo Onile are claiming that they have the power of attorney to take over our properties which is wrong.

“There is someone called Shyllon, an intermediary between the land buyers and the Omo Onile who we know has the power of attorney. This man is the person chosen by them for land transactions.

“Shyllon is the one that has been interfacing between us and the Omo Onile and we also have deeds of agreement which covers the sharing formula between the Omo Onile and him,” he said.

Morin said that members of the CDA were already working on the supposed court notice being bandied by the Omo Onile, adding that the N10 million being asked for by them was unjustifiable.

“Our lawyers are working on it and we have gone to court on the matter because what they told us is that they have court injunction for their actions which did not specify which area.

“We have even heard of many versions of the said court injunction which did not cover some Magboro which we learnt that it only affects an estate called Bankole within Magboro.

“When our lawyer reached out to their lawyers, he told us that we have to pay extra N10 million each for developed plots of land.

“He also told us that failure to pay will be tantamount to the forfeiture of our properties. We are not scared of the legal battle because we have our genuine documents,” he said.

A resident, Mr Sunkanmi Alade, said that the issue of the Omo Onile should be nipped in the bud before it degenerated into another crisis.

“From what I am seeing, this could be a crisis in the making in our community. We know the brutality of this Omo Onile, how they always come heavily armed to forcefully take over properties.

“In this age and time, I wonder how we should be talking about Omo Onile not to talk about the nuisance they often constitute to the communities where they operate.

“I am surprised to see their papers on the wall of my house, at first, I want to discountenance it, but on the other hand, thought of their incessant attack, I want to take it serious.

“We need government to help us now because these people have been outlawed in Lagos State, but they now find Ogun as a safe haven for their illegal activities,” he said.