By Kingsley Adegboye

Controversy has continued to trail a vast area of land that shares boundaries with the Oniru, the Elegushi, and the Olumegbon estates in Lekki area of Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State. The battle is between the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family, the estate of Gbadamosi Bandele Eletu and the Lagos State Government, as a result of different interpretations the parties involved  recently gave to a  Supreme Court judgment.

Vanguard learnt that the problem began in 1981 when the then Lagos State Governor, acting pursuant to the powers granted him under the Land Use Act, revoked all existing rights on the land in Eti-Osa and Ibeju Lekki areas of the state.

The Ojomus, being owners of the land from time immemorial, had at that time, sold 254.558 hectares of land to the late Mr. Gbadamosi Bandele Eletu by deed of conveyance. The conveyance, dated August 23, 1977, was  registered as No.36 at Page 36 in Volume 1648 of the Lagos Lands Registry.

But the Ojomus challenged the acquisition of their ancestral land in court which reportedly ruled in their favour and invalidated the acquisition. In  1993, the Lagos State Government published another revocation notice No 20 Volume 26 (Revocation Notice No 34) of May 13, 1993.

The government was said to have ignored the earlier judgment of the court and acquired the land belonging to the Ojomus for what it described as an “overriding public interest.”

After this, representatives of the Ojomus had several peace meetings with the government and in 1994, the Lagos State Government excised land totalling 604.19 hectares to the Ojomus through an official gazette No 24 Vol.27, dated June 23, 1994.

Vanguard further learnt that shortly after the revocation of 1993, the inheritors of the late Eletu challenged the right of the Lagos State Property Development Corporation, LSPDC, to use a portion of their land, which they bought from the Ojomus. They sought “a declaration that the applicants are the persons entitled to all that piece of farmland at Osapa in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.”

The Eletus reportedly got a favourable judgment that a portion of the land excised to the Ojomus by the government fell within the area that had been sold initially by the Ojomus to the late Gbadamosi Bandele Eletu before the revocation saga, which was said to be about 50 hectares.

Trouble started when the children of late Gbadamosi Bandele Eletu wanted to take possession of the land after the court judgment. The Ojomus sued them as trespassers.

The parties reportedly agreed to submit their documents and ask the court to determine “what rights, if any, remains for either party, after the revocation of 1993”  They also sought to know: “If the revocation is valid, can the estate of Gbadamosi Bandele Eletu validly claim any portion of the land excised to the Ojomus after the revocation?”

Justice Moshood Olugbani of the Lagos High Court in his judgement held that the inheritors of late Eletu were trespassers on the grounds that their conveyance had been validly revoked by the Lagos State Government.

But the Eletus took the case to the Court of Appeal, which was said to have upheld the decision of the High Court. The case also went to the Supreme Court, which ruled on the case on July 12, 2013.  Vanguard Homes & Property gathered that the apex court held that the inheritors of late Eletu were entitled to the 10 hectares earlier granted to them in Suit No. M/779/93.  The court was said to have affirmed and referred to the equitable interest in 254.558 hectares earlier conveyed to them by the Ojomus.

The Eletus and their lawyers, reportedly got a warrant for 254.558 hectares and began to assert claim to the land, which was said to have affected some estates such as Pinnock Beach Estate, Arcadia Estate, Beach Resort Estate, Friends Colony, Nicon Town, and a host of others. The affected estates reportedly challenged the Eletus in a Lagos High Court. The court was also said to have delivered its judgment on the case on October 11, 2013, and quashed the warrant for “documentary irregularities.”

The Eletus then went back to the Supreme Court to ask that it pronounce them as having entitlement to 254.558 hectares, to wit “less the 37.8 hectares conceded to the Lagos State Government in the terms of settlement in Suit No. M/779/93.”

The court delivered its second decision on the case between the Estate of Gbadamosi Bandele Eletu vs. Ojomu Chieftaincy Family on March 18, this year. It said the inheritors of the late Eletu were entitled to 216.758 hectares. The Ojomus stated that the Lagos State Government was not a party in Suit No LD/2642/1995, which resulted in the current judgment of the Supreme Court.

The Ojomus said more than 180 hectares of the land awarded to the inheritors of late Eletu purportedly falls outside the 604.19 hectares excised to the Ojomus by the state government. The Ojomus then wondered what would become of the revocation by the Lagos State Government, the status of the notices of excision and Certificates of Occupancy issued by the state government and how the Supreme Court expected them to give the land outside their control?