The Ogun Ministry of Justice has cautioned the public against land grabbers’ activities on government-acquired land in the Odogbolu Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, gave the warning in a statement issued in Abeokuta on Thursday.
The commissioner said that the ministry, having uncovered a fraudulent and improperly obtained Customary Court judgment that grabbers intended to use against unwary citizens, was impelled to issue the statement.
“A few months ago, the ministry received a petition from persons representing lineages and descendants of one Oba Alli Ogunnaike Fibiwoga (Fibiwoga Family) from Ijebu-Ode, Ogun.
“They claimed they were properly adjudged owners of a family land within Odogbolu Local Government Area of the state but were being disturbed by violent trespassers, and also presented a survey plan showing their 350-acre land,” he said.
The attorney-general further explained that the investigation on the complaint and scrutiny of the documents provided by the complainants showed that the land in question was government land.
“Two large Ogun State University properties are located on separate parts of the land, while other allottees of the state government are on other parts.
“The entirety of land claimed by the Fibiwoga Family falls within government acquisition and encroaches on the government-occupied land.
“The judgment obtained from the Customary Court was both fraudulently and improperly obtained because the complainants, who approached that court as plaintiffs, knew that the land did not belong to them.
“However, they still proceeded to obtain same, while excluding the state government, which had obvious interest in the land,” he said.
Ogungbade said none of the named defendants was served with the notice of the suit.
“Trial and judgment curiously occurred on the same day, again without notice to the named defendants.
“The judgment that Fibiwoga Family obtained never described the land awarded to them, and the plaintiffs in the case never presented a survey plan to the Customary Court,” he said.
According to the commissioner, the Fibiwoga family is currently acting through a self-styled developer, Obatob Properties Limited.
“Now the developer is advertising this fraudulently occupied land as available to the public for use as a residential estate.
“For the reasons stated above, the Ministry of Justice is taking steps to address the matter.
“Members of the public should inquire about the judgment and ask questions.
“Thus, the public is hereby put on notice that the claims by the Fibiwoga Family to 350 acres of land along Lagos Road, Apere Oba, via Ijebu-Ode, Ogun, are fictitious, fraudulent, and baseless,” he said.
He added that Obatob Properties Limited has no right to develop, assign, allot, or administer in the described area.
“Any person who deals with either entity or any other private person regarding the land does so at their own peril, and at the risk of a firm government response,” said the attorney-general.
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