Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
The Elegushi royal family of Ikateland in Lagos State’s Eti-Osa Local Government Area has petitioned the Nigerian Army regarding a senior army officer’s alleged threat to life and encroachment on its ancestral land.
The royal family petitioned the Army authority, through its lawyer, Adepeju Omotayo, to intervene and stop the attempt to use Army Signal personnel from Apapa, Lagos, to cause mayhem on its clients.
The petitioners are Chief Elegushi Ifasegun, the Opemolua of Ikateland, Elegushi Property Investment Company, and Chief John Ogunyemi, the Baale of Itedo.
The lawyer accused one Megba and his family members, known as the Itedo community, of acting “despite the fact that he is aware of a judgment in favor of our client by the Lagos State High Court,” according to the petition.
“On July 16, 2022, the said army general attacked Chief Ogunyemi at his office on Admiralty Way, Lekki, Lagos, accompanied by some of his men.”
“After repeatedly losing in court, the said Megba hired the army general to illegally use the Nigerian Army to “unleash terror, assault, harass, intimidate, assault, coerce, and grab our client’s land at Itedo, in the Eti Osa LGA of Lagos State.”
“Our clients were terrorized, oppressed, assaulted, humiliated, harassed, and intimidated as if they were at war by Nigerian soldiers,” the lawyer added.
“As a result, they have become so disillusioned and concerned that the Nigerian Army’s machinery could be used to terrorize Nigerian citizens for no just cause other than to illegally assist their cohorts in wrestling land that a court of competent jurisdiction has adjudged to belong to our client.”
“We believe our clients will benefit from your ability to intervene and investigate this matter in order to determine whether the army’s goal is to terrorize, harass, and intimidate Nigerians while grabbing land for an ally.”
“If the answer is no, we ask the Nigerian Army to bring the perpetrators to justice so that our clients can be relieved.”
