Prophet, Senior Police Officer & OPC Leader In Trouble Over Land Grabbing, Demolition Of Property & Theft Of N150m Equipment 

MICHAEL AKINOLA

A Lagos cleric, Prophet R. O. Ikotun, of the Hightower Global Church, Senior Police Officer in Lagos (name withheld), and the leader of Ipaja branch of the Oodua People Congress OPC, Prince Tunde Adeniran and others are now in serious trouble over alleged land grabbing and demolition of property and stealing of equipment worth N150m.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the suspects illegally encroached into a parcel of land owned by one Chief Ebenezer Adesanya Olaniyan on 6/10 Oladipupo Ajulo Close, Baruwa Ipaja, demolished the building, poultry house and warehouse, which housed equipment worth N150m.

 According to sources, Elder Olaniyan had bought the land in 1968 from the Baruwa family with all relevant documents, fenced it round and built a three bedroom bungalow house there.

He later relocated to Canada with his family. Years later,  he brought home one of his children, who built another bungalow and a poultry house, where he loaded equipment for the purpose and travelled back with a promise to come back home and settle down for his poultry business.

However, it was gathered that several years after, when Prince Tunde Adeniran, said to be a notorious land grabber in the area, noticed that the Olaniyan family was not forthcoming in returning back, he went and falsified landed documents, demolish the buildings that were already on the secured land to give an impression that it was a virgin land and started selling to willing buyers.

Some of Prince Tunde Adeniran’s clients were Prophet R.O Ikotun, a Senior Police officer and his brother. Prophet Ikotun was said to have specifically demolished one of the buildings and built a gigantic church inside it.

Already, Police detectives detailed from the FCID Abuja were in Lagos and had served Prophet R.O Ikotun with invitation to appear on May 31, 2022 to shed more light on how he got the parcel of land on which he built his church. Meanwhile, Prince Tunde Adeniran is said to be on the run and so could not be served while the Senior Police officer would be invited via a signal sent to his Unit.

When this shenanigans were going on, one of the daughters of Pa Ebenezer Olaniyan, Mrs. Aderonke Olaniyan, who was in the country reportedly confronted them that the land they were buying and building structures on belonged to her father but was threatened by a security aide to the unnamed Senior Police officer and the OPC leader that if she continued to ask questions concerning the land, that she would not live to tell her story.

Thereafter, she was said to have started receiving strange calls of threat; prompting her to run to one Barrister Yinka Sanni. In a petition dated April 28, 2022 and addressed to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police DIG in charge Force CID, DIG Babatunde Kokumo, the lawyer said, “Our client an elderly man, who in his active years laboured to acquired 5 acres of land from the Baruwa Family sometime around 1968 and he thereafter fenced the entire 4.424 acres before building a warehouse, which is fully equipped, a poultry and two tenements building there on it. He built one of the tenements buildings while the second building, which comprises of two units of three bedrooms apartment was built by his first son, Mr. Olusegun Olaniyan”.

“Sir, our client’s objectives then when building was a country home where he and the rest of the family will quietly reside upon his return from Canada. However, the notorious gang leader, Prince Tunde Adeniran a.k.a Baba Bukky and the Ajihun Family members sensing the absence of our client, forcefully encroached on the property situated at No. 6/10 Oladipupo Ajulo Close Baruwa, demolished the tenements buildings, the poultry farms and carted away all the chicken pens and equipments valued at roughly N150m.”

“This notorious OPC leader did not also spare the warehouse aas he led his gang to demolish it and also carted away the following items: Industrial Poultry Grinding Machine, Birds cages for the Poultry Farm, Large Quantities of Iron Rods, Large Industrial sewing machines, Large Water Tank (To supply water to the proposed estate), Tools etc. Total value of items stolen amount to N150m.”

Barrister Sanni stated: “Sir, undone by all these nefarious activities they are threatening to snuff life out of Mrs. Aderonke Olaniyan for daring to challenge their forceful encroachment on her father’s property. She has been receiving strange calls late at night warning her to stay off her father’s property and she, fearing for her life, had no choice than stay off as warned by these marauders”.

“It is also alarming that at this age and time someone will wield such powers to demolish without Court order and brazenly sell it to unsuspecting members of the public. The portion that contained 2 units of 3 bedrooms was demolished and sold to one Prophet Ikotun and he has gone ahead to build a Church on it while the other virgin land is being occupied by members of the outlawed OPC. We hereby, solicit your urgent assistance in bring Baba Bukky and the Baruwa Family to book before they snuff life out of clients siblings.”

Contacted, Prophet R.O. Ikotun said, “Well I did not encroach on the land illegally like you claim, thank God those that sold the land to me are all alive and they gave me relevant documents to prove ownership. I have the documents. In any case, I do not have much to say now because some Policemen from Abuja came today to serve me letter of invitation to appear on May 31, 2022; so may be while in Abuja, I will call you for details”.