Four prominent families in Makun, Sagamu have called on the Ogun State Government to urgently intervene in a growing land dispute involving the Baale of Odofin Oke–Rala Village, Mr. Nasiru Adekunle Sodeinde.
Prince David Kolawole Adeleke Oguntade, speaking on behalf of the Sodeinde, Oguntade, Adegbuyi, and Onawoga families, told journalists last Monday that the Baale—who is also a member of the extended lineage—has been “misusing his authority to oppress other family branches and assume absolute control of the community’s ancestral land.”
According to Omoba Oguntade, the Baale allegedly deployed land grabbers to the entrance of a 300-acre farmland without the knowledge of the family. Farmers attempting to access the land for daily activities were turned back by the armed men. The matter was later taken before HRH Oba Timothy Oyeola Akinsanya (Orungba II), the Ewusi of Makun Kingdom, who reportedly directed the Baale to remove the land grabbers.
However, despite the royal intervention, Omoba Oguntade alleged that parts of the farmland had already been sold to outsiders. “Some unknown individuals have fenced off about twenty acres, claiming they bought the land and paid in full,” he said.
Supporting the allegations, Mr. Sokoya Hassan Taiwo of the Adegbuyi family recounted how he was lured under the guise of meeting a family lawyer but ended up in an office belonging to men identified as Mogaji and Alowonle. There, he said, he was surrounded by armed land grabbers who forced him to sign documents he did not understand.
After reporting the incident to his family, Sokoya said repeated efforts to obtain copies of the documents from the Baale—documents the Baale allegedly described as “loan papers”—have been unsuccessful. The families later discovered portions of the land fenced off by people claiming to have purchased them.
The four families are now appealing to the Ogun State Government to step in, investigate the alleged coercion, illegal sale of family property, and clarify the role of all parties involved, including Mogaji and Alowonle.
All efforts to reach the Ewusi of Makun Kingdom for comments were unsuccessful as at press time.
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