By Efe Onodjae

A dispute over the administration of the late Chief Abiodun Smith’s estate has torn his family apart, with some members alleging police intimidation and threats to their lives.

The aggrieved members have called for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun.

Briefing journalists in Lagos, yesterday, some of the aggrieved family members led by Lekan Kehinde, Oluwole Rasak, Olanrewaju Oyegunle and Lukman Adegbero, explained that their deceased grandfather, Chief Smith, left an estate to be shared equally among all the children from four units.

The income generated from the family estate’s property, according to spokesperson for the family, Lekan Kehinde, was deposited into a shared account and distributed equally among all children, regardless of gender.

He said the family dispute over the estate took a dramatic turn two years ago after his mother, who was Chief Smith’s last child, passed away. 

As the appointed representative of his mother’s line and a signatory to the estate documents after her passing, he alleged an attempt by a faction of the family to use policemen at the Zone 2 Command, Onikan, to intimidate them.

Kehinde said: “When I arrived at Zone 2, they informed me that an estate agent had written a petition against me. However, I don’t know this agent and have never met him before. The agent claimed that the family property had been handed over to him for management on behalf of the family.

“He stated that tenants were refusing to cooperate with him, saying they would only do so in my presence. The agent requested police accompaniment to compel the tenants to cooperate.

“After listening to the police, I asked when had it become police responsibility to dabble or decide on what to do in a family matter of this nature. I was threatened and coerced to dance to the dictates of the police and unknown agent purportedly contracted by unknown family members.

“My late grandfather had a Will. The Will does not recognise male or female children. The Will recognised each child from the four lines. We share all the money in the family estate account every August. I have the documents. After payment, everyone signs. We have shared the money up to 2024. They are using the Police against me because my mother is late and they want to take what belongs to me to themselves.

“It is on this note that we are calling on the authorities, the Police Service Commission, the Inspector-General of Police and all well meaning Nigerians, to caution and prevail on the police at Zone 2 against interfering in our family matters.”

However, when the AIG Zone 2 , AIG Adegoke Fayoade was contacted, he confirmed that he gave the directive for a family resolution when the matter was reported at  the Zone.

He expressed surprise at Kehinde’s allegation of threat by the Zonal command.

He said: “I asked them to carry out the family resolution, so, what is the problem with that? The family had a dispute, and they arrived at a resolution, and the resolution is that the estate should be managed by an appointed estate agent, so what is the problem? The minute of the meeting was read, and he was at the meeting, so he was asked to go to meet with his family and abide by the resolution.”