A three-time cancer survivor, Olaitan Ogunseye, has demanded justice after the Eletu of Oke-Eletu, Adeniyi Àjàyí, allegedly demolished her building under construction on Chris Aghanenu Street, Eyita, in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the monarch, after taking over the property from the 64-year-old woman, allegedly threatened to kill her and anyone else sighted working on the land.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the plot of land was acquired from one of the monarch’s relatives in 2000, with complete documentation and a receipt.
However, when Ogunseye began construction on the land in 2007, her health prevented her from completing the building.
She said, “There was a delay to start the construction of the structure because it was within the time I discovered my cancer issue. But we eventually began in 2007.
“When the structure reached the lintel phase, I had another cancer diagnosis. It was a terrible experience but I survived. After surviving the medical challenges, I went back to the site to complete the building.
“I bought all the materials needed to complete the house. Some boys just walked up to me and said they would not allow me or any other person to work on the site.”
She narrated that they told her that things had changed and that she clearly did not understand what they were saying. “They said we should go to the palace to meet with the king. When we met with the monarch at the palace, he told us not to return to the land. He said he would kill us and any other person he sees on the land,” she alleged.
After several appeals, Ogunseye told our correspondent that one of the monarch’s aides demanded N2.5m to settle the dispute over the land.
She said, “It was when we got outside of the palace that one of the monarch’s boys saw my condition and told us to beg the monarch with N2.5m. I told the man that I would bring N1m to the palace so that we could plead with the monarch but he refused the money saying the monarch had already seen someone willing to pay N10m for the property.
“The next time I visited the palace along with other family members to plead with him (Àjàyí), he chased me out of the palace. But my relatives and his subordinates stayed behind to beg him. He later agreed and said he would give us his response two weeks later.
“We didn’t hear anything from him again. We called him and he didn’t pick up. So, we went to his palace again where he told us that once he’s done with what he was doing on my property, he would give us another land.”
Bent on reclaiming her property, Ogunseye said her family members raised the N2.5m in the hope that the monarch would relinquish the land but he refused.
She said, “We later called the subordinate about the money but he said there was nothing he could do again. So I went to my site. On getting there, I saw loads of blocks on my site.
“I’m told the blocks belong to the people he (the monarch) sold my land to. The second time I went there, I observed that they had dug holes to fence my property.
“When I saw what was happening on my property, I met with other leaders in the community to help me appeal to the king not to take my land. They did and he promised to work things out. A few days later, my building was demolished and they started erecting another structure on my property.”
Demanding justice in the case, Ogunseye’s husband, Tayo, called for the intervention of relevant authorities in the matter.
He said, “The reason we didn’t complete the building on time is because of her condition. She had three medical surgeries for breast cancer. She had two in Nigeria and one in the UK. We have the survey of the land and other documents.
“He said they had asked those who had buildings in the community to pay about N200,000 for one rectification. They said it was a court that gave the judgment.
“We didn’t know about this until later because we had not yet completed the structure. We want our land to be returned to us. And he should compensate us for demolishing our property.”
Responding to the allegation in a telephone interview on Wednesday, the monarch denied the accusation, saying he was only following a court order.
“That’s not true. There was a judgment in 2007 and 2020,” the monarch said in response to our correspondent’s enquiry.
When our correspondent inquired further about the alleged judgment, the monarch responded, “It was a consent judgment,” and directed our correspondent to speak with his lawyer.
However, as of the time this report was filed, the monarch had not yet to provide his lawyer’s contact information.
