Lekki Land Dispute: Businessman Tells AIG Zone 2, ‘Make Your Interest Public’

Osuolale made the call on Sunday while reacting to what he described as one-sided police involvement in the protracted land matter between his company and SkyView Properties Limited.

According to him, the senior police officer had been intervening in the dispute since his tenure as Commissioner of Police in Lagos State.

Alleged Bias Over Property Ownership

The businessman alleged that despite a pending court case on the property, the Zone 2 Command has continued to act in favour of SkyView Properties.

He claimed the interest was linked to a former Senate President, an allegation PMEXPRESS could not independently verify as of press time.

“ He has come out to say I am blackmailing him now. He should also come out to tell the public that he started meddling in this issue since his days as the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State and he should be bold enough to tell us whose interest he is protecting, ” Osuolale said.

He questioned the procedure adopted during the alleged execution of a court judgment on the land.

“ He claimed that he received a petition for protection from SkyView. Why were the court sheriffs and other court workers not present when they were claiming to be executing a court judgement? ” he asked.

Petition Allegedly Ignored

Osuolale further alleged that a counter-petition submitted by his company to the AIG was dismissed without investigation.

“ We also wrote a petition to him and instead of calling both parties for questioning, he discarded our petition, describing it as lacking merit. At least, you need to bring the two parties to the table, listen to both of them and look at their documents before arriving at a decision, ” he said.

He insisted that the proper procedure requires hearing from both sides and reviewing title documents before any police action.

History of the Dispute

Tracing the origin of the crisis, Osuolale alleged that his firm had faced repeated police actions since the officer assumed office as Lagos CP.

“ Since his assumption of office as the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, he had always worked against the law and against the actual owner of the property, ” he claimed.

He added that some of his workers were once detained in connection with the dispute and were only released after the intervention of a former Inspector-General of Police.

“ Without investigation, he just concluded that Skyview is the owner of the property without hearing anything from the 89-year-old owner, who was forced to relocate abroad, ” he said.

Calls for Transfer of Case

Osuolale questioned why the case was returned to Zone 2 when it was already being investigated at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba.

“ Already, there is a Stay of Execution on the judgement being claimed by SkyView but because of his interest, he didn’t bother to investigate, ” he alleged.

He also presented a video which purportedly showed demolition of structures on the disputed land with police presence.

“ They claimed to have been in possession of the land. The AIG should explain to us whose structure they were demolishing in the video, ” he demanded.

The businessman appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to reassign the investigation to another formation for neutrality.

“ Before the AIG resumed as the Commissioner of Police, the matter was already investigated and a report submitted at Zone 2 but he jettisoned all these, ” he said.

Chain of Title Questioned

Osuolale challenged the ownership chain presented by SkyView Properties.

According to him, “ SkyView are claiming to have bought the land from a certain Yomi Edu, who also claimed to have bought the land from the original owner, Pa Ajibode. ”

He asked whether the police had invited both the 89-year-old original owner and the said Yomi Edu for questioning.

“ Has the AIG invited both 89-year-old Pa Ajibode and the said Yomi Edu for investigation? The former AIG invited them and on different occasions, it was only the old man that came from the US, while the other person did not show up, ” he said.

He maintained that the matter is still pending before the Court of Appeal, yet his structures on the land have been demolished with policemen from Zone 2 allegedly providing cover.

As of the time of filing this report, the Zone 2 Police Command and SkyView Properties have not publicly responded to the allegations.