Tension has erupted in Ikeja, Lagos State, after the Akinole-Oshiun family accused Hon. James Abiodun Faleke and officials of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority of allegedly using hoodlums to demolish a property which the family claimed had been awarded to it by the courts.
Faleke is a third-term lawmaker representing Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
The family alleged that armed thugs stormed the property located along Lateef Jakande Road, opposite the Coca-Cola factory in Agidingbi, in the early hours of Monday, May 25, 2026, and demolished a newly erected perimeter fence while also forcefully removing the entrance gate.
According to the family, the operation was carried out under the cover of darkness and allegedly on the instruction of Faleke and officials of OORBDA.
Residents in the area were reportedly thrown into panic as the demolition took place.
“This was not just destruction of property; it was a direct assault on the rule of law,” the family said in a report issued after the incident.
The disputed land, measuring about 8,097 square metres, forms part of a larger expanse of land in Agidingbi that has been the subject of legal battles for several decades.
The family insisted that courts from the High Court to the Supreme Court had affirmed its ownership rights over the land.
According to the report, the Lagos State High Court entered judgment in favour of the family in Suit No. ID/216/77L between Sule Akinole & Anor v. A.T.O. Mogaji & Ors. The family said subsequent appeals challenging the judgment were dismissed by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
It further stated that an attempt by the Lagos State Government to reopen the matter at the Court of Appeal in 2007 was also dismissed for lacking merit.
Following the legal victories, the family said it obtained a writ of possession and recovered the land through a court-supervised execution in 2019.
The family added that the Lagos State Government later initiated reconciliation efforts with land-owning families in Agidingbi and eventually allocated portions of land to the Akinole-Oshiun family in 2025, including the disputed parcel opposite the Coca-Cola factory.
It said the allocation came with official survey documents authenticated by the Surveyor-General of Lagos State, after which possession of the land was formally handed over.
The family said it commenced development on the property, including fencing and installation of a gate, before the structures were allegedly demolished overnight.
However, the family claimed Faleke insisted that the land belongs to OORBDA based on a Certificate of Occupancy allegedly issued to the agency by the Lagos State Government in 1994.
The lawmaker was also alleged to have claimed a 20-year lease over the property.
The family rejected the claim, describing it as “lame, preposterous and contemptuous,” and insisted that no certificate of occupancy or lease agreement could override subsisting court judgments and executed possession orders.
The incident has triggered calls for investigation and possible prosecution of those allegedly involved in the demolition.
Observers say the development may spark another controversy over land ownership, political influence and enforcement of court judgments in Lagos State.
As of the time of filing this report, neither Faleke nor officials of OORBDA had publicly responded to the allegations.
