70-yr-old attacked by hoodlums over battle to reclaim property cries for justice
A septuagenarian whose land was allegedly grabbed by an unnamed cleric has cried out for justice after he was brutally attacked by hoodlums suspected to be land grabbers, reports KUNLE
A septuagenarian whose land was allegedly grabbed by an unnamed cleric has cried out for justice after he was brutally attacked by hoodlums suspected to be land grabbers, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
It was a double jeopardy for embattled 70-year-old Olalekan Ashamu Agbede. Days after he started his struggle to reclaim a parcel of land taken from him by a cleric, he was brutally assaulted by hoodlums on March 26.
The Abeokuta, Ogun State born blacksmith had bought a piece of land over 20 years ago and converted it to a mechanic workshop in the neighbourhood of Alagbado, a Lagos suburb. However, the said property on which his life depends has been allegedly taken from him. His woes were further compounded by the latest attack by hoodlums who allegedly described him as a stubborn man for refusing to keep off the land as earlier warned.
According to Agbede, he had just finished with the work for the day and was walking along the Adura section of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway to get a bus home when some hoodlums suspected to be land grabbers accosted him around 9pm.
Before he knew it, the fiendish men threw him into a canal after he was attacked with blows, sticks and machetes.
Tearing up while recounting his ordeal, he said: “This attack happened on March 26 while I was returning home from Iyana Meiran around 9.20pm.
‘’While I was walking along the Adura axis of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway to catch a bus to my residence at Ifo, Ogun State, some hoodlums emerged from the dark and accosted me.
“They started attacking me with sticks, iron items and machetes and pummeled me. I initially thought that they were robbers until they chorused that I had been warned never to contest ownership of my land with a pastor who unlawfully took my land and sold it with the aid of some military men.
“My attackers did not take anything from me. They only brutalised me with weapons and threw me into a big canal close to the highway before they vanished into the dark.
“I suspect them to be working for a land grabber in the neighbourhood who collaborated with the clergyman to take over my property.’’
The elderly artisan explained that he could not identify his assailants because the attack took place in the dark.
“I had just left my workshop where I work as a blacksmith. It was nightfall when the hoodlums attacked me, and there was no way I could identify them.
“However, they kept saying that I was stubbornly insisting on reclaiming my lost property even after I had been warned to desist from laying claim to the property.’’
The incident landed Agbede in the hospital where he was admitted and treated for days.
“As you can see me, I haven’t recovered from the attack. I am still in pains. My body aches from the brutality meted out to me by the hoodlums.
“The boys, who reeked of cannabis, told me in plain terms that I risk death by insisting on my ownership of the land.
“I spent a lot of money on hospital bills and I am still indebted as I speak.
“I sometimes sleep in one of the shops I built on my land which serve as my workshop where there are other mechanics like panel beaters, automobile electrical technicians and upholstery men. But I live around Bungalow area of Ifo, Ogun State.
“I bought the land from the owner of a popular hotel at Adura area of Alaggbado, and everyone in the neighbourhood knows that I am the owner of the property.
“However, one pastor of a white garment church, who lives in the community, suddenly sent some men to take a measurement of my land.
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“I went to him and explained to him that although I bought the property from the hotelier, I had also paid another amount for validation to the family owner of the land.
“A few days later, the pastor sent some soldiers to the land and forcibly grabbed it.
“As we speak, I learnt that the clergyman has sold the land to an unidentified person. But I am ready to take back my property from him.
“I reported the incident to a police division in the Alagbado area in January this year and the clergyman was invited to the station, but he could not offer a convincing justification for grabbing my land.
“Hence, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) asked that we settle the matter in court and that it was beyond what he could handle.
Asked if he had reported the latest attack to the police, Agbede said he had lost confidence in police arbitration on the matter.
He said: “I doubt if the police could offer any plausible help in this matter. The police did not do much to help me when I reported that my landed property was snatched by a supposed man of God.
“Instead, the police, who initially promised to tell the trespasser to hands off my property, recanted and told me to seek redress in court even after I had shown them the receipts issued to me when I purchased the land from the owner and the family that owns the land.
“If the police could not prevent my property from being grabbed, I don’t think they can apprehend the hoodlums that attacked me.
“However, all I want now is to have my land back. I learnt the land is at the verge of being sold, but I don’t care.
“All I want is to retrieve or reclaim my land from the impostor who hijacked it from me because he has money and influence in the neighbourhood where the land is located.’’
An inquiry sent by our correspondent to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Lagos Police Command, Ms. Abimbola Adebisi, had not been returned at press time.
