Orudu Family Petitions Lagos Assembly Over Land Matter

The Lagos State House of Assembly has been urged to disregard a protest recently staged at the premises of the assembly by some families ?over ownership of some large parcel of land in Ibeju Lekki Area of the State.

In a petition they wrote through their lawyer, Chief Yemi Ogundele, the Orudu Family in Ibeju-Lekki requested the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa to allow the law take its course in the matter.

Hon. Mudashiru Obasa

In the petition dated September 18, 2015 and addressed to the Speaker of the Assembly, the Orudu family, who accused the protesters and their leaders of mounting campaign of calumny ?against them, stated that the protest, which they claimed were led by parties in matters pending in the court, was contemptuous of the court processes as issues raised by the protesters are subject matter in two cases that are before two high courts in the state.

The family, which said they are the original and traditional owners of Orudu villages including Ayeteju, Ofiran, Oke Olokun?, Igando Orudu and Alakun, said that the land matter is the subject in. Suit No LD/368LM/2015 between Alhaji Sikiru Yusuf and others versus Mr. Theophilius Oyafunke and 23 others before Justice Abisoye Bashua of High Court 2, Epe.

According to them, “the chieftaincy matter on the other hand, suit No ID/1928/2011 between Chief Waheed Arepo and 24 others and Onibeju of Ibeju, Oba Rafiu Salami and five others is pending before Justice Hakeem Oshodi in Lagos.”

The Orudu Family claimed that the other parties in the suit before the court had used police to arrest them for armed robbery, including a 90-year old matriach of the family, Alhaja (Chief) Basiratu Balogun before staging the protest.

The family claimed further that the other party, using one Assistant Commissioner of Police?, Sola Akinyede, wrongly briefed AIG Joseph Mbu, who was in-charge of Zone 2, on the true situation of the matter.

The charges brought against 22 members of the Orudu families, they said, was later struck out following the advice of the DPP as “no prima facie” case could be established against them for illegal possession of fire arms.

They stated that the villages of Ayeteju, Ofiran, Oke Olokun?, Igando Orudu and Alakun were founded by their progenitor?, ?Madam Orudu, a powerful slave trader and farmer about 300 years ago.

According to them,,Madam Orudu migrated from Epe to Ibeju of the present day following salt scarcity in Epe.

They claimed that she put a slave in charge of her farms, while migrating because she was powerful.

“The slave in charge of Ayeteju was Oyafunke, the Ilari-Ogun? Ajia are the slave in charge of Ofiran, the Alimi are in charge of Oke-Olokun.

“It is now an irony that because the true owners of the land, the Orudu Family are ?legally protesting the indiscriminate sales of their land by impostors and descendants of these slaves, they now decided to malign the character of the owners”, they stated in the petition.

As a way of proving their claim to the land, they referred the State Assembly to the ‘Intelligence Report in Ibeju Area in Epe District of The Colony’ as? reported in file no 29664-S3 and said that a report on the administrative re-organisation of the Ibeju clan are in Epe District of the colony as reported by. E.J. Gibbons.

“The pertinent question is, why are they afraid of the court actions? If they are sure of their holdings, why not wait for the court to decide?”, they asked.

?The Orudu family however, emphasised that no amount of police intimidation or blackmail would make them to surrender their heritage to imposters.

They then urged the LSHA to look into the matter.