Court Stops Taskforce from Taking Over Abu Abel’s Property

A Federal High Court in Lagos has stopped the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit, Task Force and its head, CSP Shola Jejeloye, from taking over a landed property belonging to a businessman Olasheni Adeyinka (popularly known as Abu Abel).

In a suit marked FHC/CS/80/2023, presiding Judge, Justice Francis Ogazi also stopped the police from taking any action regarding the property – 12 plots of land situated at Silicon Estate, Idado, Ologolo, Agungi Town, in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state.

Adeyinka, Obimzy Property (Abu Abel) Development and four others were listed as applicants in the suit while the Task Force; the Chief of Staff to Lagos State Governor, Tayo Ayinde; the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, and four others were respondents in the suit.

In a ruling in an ex-parte motion filed on January 17, 2024, the court granted an interim order restraining the respondents, “whether by themselves, their agents from arresting, detaining, harassing or taking untoward action against applicants in connection with the facts of the case pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion, pending the final determination of this suit.”

In his reaction, Adeyinka’s lawyer, Yakub Eleto, said his client bought the land nine years ago from the Ojomu Family of Ajiran in Eti-Osa.

Eleto said Adeyinka got the Governor’s Consent on the land, amongst other documents, “But when he wanted to commence construction on the land last year, some people arrested him and when he was released, he saw that some people were on his land.

“He confronted them and they said Tayo Ayinde, the Chief of Staff, sent them. My client reached out to Ayinde and he said it belonged to President Bola Tinubu. But how? A land with the Governor’s Consent?

“We went to court to seek an injunction but to our surprise, Lagos State Government failed to comply with the injunction. They went ahead to still fence the property and started developing it. They even used police van to take cement to the construction site

“This is serious disobedience to court order and should not be happening in Lagos.”