Family Drags Odeda LG Chairman, Bola Lawal To Police Over 'Fake' Land Documents

 

Hon. Semiu Bola Lawal

ABEOKUTA - The Iyanda Ogundeyi family of Abeokuta has dragged the Transition Committee Chairman of Odeda local government area of Ogun state, Hon. Semiu Bola Lawal to the Ogun State Police Headquarters over alleged forged land documents located within the council area.

The family urged the Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Ajogun to investigate the alleged forged documents on four acres of land the council chairman is parading as authentic documents.

The family in a petition addressed to the police boss, accused Lawal of allegedly planning to take over the parcel of land located off Abeokuta/Ibadan Expressway in Gbonagun village, Obantoko in Odeda local government area of the state .

The  family in the petition titled "petition of forgery and fraudulent representation against Mr. Semiu Bola Lawal" accused Lawal of using his office to oppress the owners of the parcel of the  land.

THE ENCOUNTER NEWS observed that despite the documents purportedly emanated from Bureau of Land and Survey on the same disputed land, they had different content.

While two of the documents being paraded by the family confirmed that their parcel of  land did not fall within the government committed acquisition, the third one allegedly paraded by the council boss stated otherwise.

The document allegedly paraded by the council boss dated July 3, 2020, titled, "Charting Information Report" read  that the disputed land fell within committed government acquisition.

But, the other two documents being paraded by the family with the same title and allegedly  issued  by the same bureau of land and survey contradicted Lawal's alleged  forged document.  

According to the family, the outgoing caretaker Committee Chairman of Odeda local government, fraudulently distorted the charting certificate relating to the land.

The petition partly reads: "Lawal  is parading a false document dated July 3, 2020 and represented that our client's family land is part of acquired land by Ogun state government on behalf of Odeda local government.

"We hereby seek your indulgence for this matter to be investigated in the interest of justice. We look forward to your prompt intervention ."

Reacting to the allegation against him, Lawal denied the allegation, saying, the council had acquired the land since  2002 before he assumed the office.

He said "the government has invested a lot on that land and they continued going to that land and selling it.

He said he family had agreed to collect compensation over the  land.

According to him,  they have gotten part of that compensation, we agreed on about N3 million  as compensation and they had collected almost N700,000 out of the money and they even signed for it.

"They went to collect a certain charting information of the land, as a government, would we go and forge a land document again?

"Will government be issuing a document for another government and so I don't know where they saw a forged document.

"It is not about the Chairman of Odeda local government, it is about Odeda local government, not me as a person.

"It is the Ministry of Lands that can speak on that and not me, if you want to make enquiry, direct it to the Bureau of lands.

"Last year they still collected N100,000 from the local government and they signed for it on that land, we had left the office that day, they met us at the road, we collect the money from someone for them and they signed, it is hand written and not even a typed one.

"It is one of the Ogundeyi's that signed for the money, I can't remember who collected the money."

When contacted, the Director-General, Bureau of Lands and Survey, Aina Salami confirmed that there was a land matter involving Odeda council .

Salami however said he might not be able to state categorically if the same matter he was referring to was the one under discussion.

He said "What you are saying came to my knowledge last week, they have been having there issues for years, the Odeda issue has been for years,they tabled this one you are talking about last week,let the system take its course, maybe the legal person will be able to respond to the issue this week or before the end of next week.

"I will need to see a proper documentation for me to verify. All I know is that Odeda local government has an issue with us and I can not place my fingers on it and it will be resolved."

He however, refered our reporter to the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on land legal, Emmanuel Akande who, having checked the documents, confirmed that the Bureau was aware of the issue .

Akande said his observation was that two of the documents have the same coordinates  while the other one had another coordinate.

He said,  "there is no legal issue  or it was forged, so, anybody that is talking of forging should go to the police so that the police will be able to investigate.

"I am aware that the matter is in front of the police, there is nothing before me, I am not the law court, I am not the police to suggest, although, I am not sure that any of the land certificate is a product of forging.

"If anybody is challenging that, is free go to the police or possibly go to court to challenge it but, like I said, the coordinates in the two of the land certificate are the same and show that the land is free and then the last one, the third one shows that the coordinate is different."