The family of Ojo Ajisafe, a 32-year-old bricklayer in Ondo State, has cried out following his arrest and detention by louts and police officers alleged to be sponsored by a politician in the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered on Wednesday that land grabbers were after the 6,000 acres of land belonging to Ajisafe’s father.
However, the bricklayer’s persistent refusal to release the property was met with strong displeasure, leading to sponsored attacks on Ajisafe and his family.
Our correspondent learnt that armed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force stormed Ajisafe’s home in Okedasa on Monday to assault him in the presence of his wife and five children before whisking him away to their station at the Assistant Inspector General of Police’s Office, Zone 17, Akure.
The victim’s wife, Endurance, who spoke to our correspondent, said her husband’s arrest was the latest horror experience in the hands of those who wanted to take control of the land.
“The land in Igba belonged to his father before his death. His father had two male children but one does not stay at home, so it is my husband who takes care of the land. But because he is still young, some members of his extended family have been threatening him to leave the land for them. They went to plan with a rich and powerful politician in Ondo State to sack my husband from the land.
“They threatened him several times to leave the property for them. When he refused, they started sending louts to beat him like a criminal. They have also been sending the police to arrest him every time. Whenever the police came, they would beat him mercilessly. After arresting and detaining him, they do not allow us to see or give him food. They tell us that the politician said nobody should be allowed to see him,” the distraught wife said.
Endurance feared her husband might lose his life this time around as she noted that the beatings and detention had gone on for so long.
“Because of the fear of being assaulted, he stopped going to that land. Still, they would come to our house, beat him up, and take him away. They beat him before they took him away (on Monday morning). When I went to the station, they chased me away.
“We are all living in panic as they can break in anytime. There is no peace again in the house. Since his arrest, we have not eaten. We have been running around trying to secure his release before they kill him,” she added.
Our correspondent obtained a petition written by Ajisafe’s lawyer, M. Arowojolu, on August 25, calling the attention of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 17, Akure, Ondo State, to intervene in the matter as the family believed their lives were in grave danger.
The petition alleged that the Ondo politician sponsored armed louts to ambush Ajisafe earlier in May while returning from the disputed land, attacking him with the intent to kill him. The petition alleged that the police were complicit in the matter as some officers worked on the orders of the politician to assault, arrest, and detain Ajisafe on different occasions.
Despite Ajisafe reporting to the police, the petition said, “Officers of the monitoring unit killed the case there and then the matter was never investigated after leaving your office on that day. The matter was swept under the carpet in conspiracy with the suspects who frequently patronise the monitoring unit.
“The whole situation is borne out of the desire of the politician to purchase 90 acres of land from Ajisafe’s land, stating however that he does not care about the court judgment in Ajisafe’s favour.
“Premised on the above, and rather than see injustice persist or wait till the suspects eventually succeed in killing Ajisafe, we urge you to investigate this complaint as well as those already swept under the carpet as we have completely lost confidence in the activities of the Monitoring Unit of your office.”
The accused politician, Iranola Akinlaja, denied the allegations when PUNCH Metro contacted him on Wednesday.
He said, “I don’t have any land issues with anybody.”
The Zone 17 Police Public Relations Officer, Adeoye Adeola, told our correspondent on Wednesdy morning that the matter was under investigation.
“The case is under investigation, and rest assured justice will be served,” he said.
