Egba High Chief and father of former Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Chief Suarau Alani Bankole has described the invasion of his land by agents of Ogun State Government despite a subsisting court order, ostensibly on the instruction of Governor Amosun as the height of executive rascality.
Adebisi Adeyanju, Media Aide to the Egba High Chief who spoke to our correspondent, said the land, a subject of litigation and for which judgement was given in favour of Chief Bankole was invaded in the wee hours of thursday 17th of July,2018. She opined that the invasion might not be unconnected with the decision of Hon. Justice Akinyemi to personally visit the property over issues of identity and possession. In her words, "after judgement was delivered in our favour the second time, the argument over the stay of execution filed by the government led to the decision of Hon. Justice Akinyemi to personally visit the land on the 18th of July, 2018, not only to resolve the issue of identity but also to confirm that indeed, Chief Bankole took possession of the land as against the argument of the defendants".
She continued, "To our greatest surprise, information reached us at about 12.30 a.m. of July 17th, 2018, that agents of government were on the land carting away goods worth millions of naira belonging to tenants amongst whom is a mechanic, Mr. Adegbite,whose customers' vehicles were also taken away. We have it on good authority that, the 'operation' lasted till about 4 a.m. and during that period, the street light in that area was turned off and vehicular movement was diverted. Policemen were drafted from Government House for the clandestine exercise. As a matter of fact , a passerby was shot in the process of the operation and was taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta for treatment.
Expressing surprise over the action of the governor, she said, "It still baffles me why the Governor is so desperate to hijack Chief Bankole's property. It is expected that since he filed stay of execution which the court later granted him, he should have waited for the judicial process to take its course rather than the government racasality and flagrant disregard for the rule of law which he is currently displaying.
As I speak, they have commenced construction on that land on which status quo is expected to be maintained. It is a serious case of abuse of office and executive power. Somebody should remind Mr Governor that this is clearly against his oath of office, especially now that he has just about ten months to leave office."
When contacted, Olumide Ayeni, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State, said he was not prepared to speak on the matter claiming that the matter is in court. But when our correspondent reminded him that this is a case of invasion, Ayeni alleged that he (our correspondent) was been sponsored and rudely hung up.
Meanwhile, Alani Bankole in a letter date 17th July, 2018, addressed to the Commissioner of Police and copied both the Alake of Egba Land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo,CFR and Divisional Police Offficer, Ibara Police Division, called for indepth investigation into the matter. The letter a copy of which was made available to our correspondent is titled: "Invasion of My Land Situate, Lying And Being At Plot 1, Block V1, Ibara Commercial Centre, Ibara, Abeokuta," reads in part: " Investigations carried out revealed that the vehicles were towed by Mobile Police Officers and Officers of Trace ostensibly at the instance of the Defendants. The vehicles were traced to Trace's premises but up till now the Container including the stock, Generator, Deep Freezer, Gas and other items belonging to Biodun Olukoya have not been located.
" I hereby bring the unfortunate incident to your humble self hoping that you will carry out a detailed investigation without fear or favour." The letter concluded.
