Young Shall Grow sues Amuwo Odofin LG for forceful seizure of land

Transport entrepreneur and owner of The Young Shall Grow Motors, Chief Vincent Obianodo has sued the Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Valentine Buraimoh, for the illegal and forceful seizure of a parcel of land belonging to his company, Vinee Oil Nigeria Limited.

Obianodo is alleging that the local government authorities illegally trespassed on the land at Second Avenue, Opposite Old NEPA Office, a stone throw from 22 Road junction, FESTAC Town.

He is therefore seeking an interlocutory injunction from a Lagos State High Court, Lagos Division, restraining further action on the land by the council, pending the determination of the case.

A crisis had broken out between the 73-year-old transport mogul and the council, following the illegal seizure of the land near Agboju Market, and its conversion into the proposed Ope-Oluwa Market by the council.

Obianodo, who is still recuperating from the gunshots he received from suspected kidnappers in Lagos, urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the House of Assembly to prevail on the council chairman to stop the illegal acquisition of his land.

His counsel, Kennedy Okwara, said the council trespassed on the land in violation of the Lagos State Properties Protection Law (2016), which forbids forceful takeover of another person’s property.

He recalled that, following the acquisition of the expansive FESTAC/Amuwo Odofin land from Oluwa, Alado, Alamuwo and Onitire families in 1976, the land was vested in the Federal Housing Authority, which allocated it to Chief Obianodo in 1992.

Okwara said, “As a registered petroleum, oil and associated products’ dealership company, upon application, our client was formally allotted the parcel in 1992 by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), and following its acceptance of the offer of allocation and compliance with all stipulated conditions, it was let into exclusive and undisturbed possession thereof.”

The Vanguard reports that the lawyer said the allotted parcel, which was overgrown by wild bushes, marshy, water lodges and unattractive asset, was sand-filled at the cost of N10 million between 1995 and 1996.

Okwara lamented that around May 25, the council chairman, accompanied by his agents, security men, contractor, together with bulldozers, payloaders, graders and other heavy equipment, supervised the destruction of the concrete structures on the land and the dispersal of indigent petty traders on the land.

Decrying what he described as an “indiscriminate, reckless, irresponsible, mindless, criminal, trespassorial and illegal destruction,” he said the chairman resisted efforts to reach him and ignored the “stop work orders” and written cautions served on him by the FHA, which is the allocating and supervising federal agency in charge of Festac Town.

“We hereby implore you, as governor and chief security officer of Lagos State, to step in, not only to call the chairman of Amuwo Odofin Council to order but also direct him to vacate our client’s parcel,” he said.

Vanguard correspondent reports that Efforts to get the reaction of the council chairman were unsuccessful as he did not respond to repeated phone calls to him.