The Ondo State Government has intensified its clampdown on alleged land grabbers as a Magistrate Court sitting in Oke Eda, Akure, on Thursday remanded a traditional ruler and two others over alleged fraudulent land transactions.
The defendants, Oba David Okunato, the traditional ruler of Osi Community in Akure North Local Government Area, Tifase Folasade and Nwaigbue Chijioke, were arraigned before the court in connection with alleged illegal land dealings.
The suspects were subsequently remanded at the Olokuta Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of their bail conditions.
The court granted each defendant bail in the sum of N2m with one surety, who must be a recognised traditional ruler within the court’s magisterial district, as well as a Level 14 civil servant resident within the Akure Magisterial District.
The prosecution alleged that the monarch initially sold about 750 plots of land to a company for development purposes but later resold portions of the same property to other individuals.
The dispute reportedly surfaced after the company moved to commence development on the land and discovered that several persons were already claiming ownership based on fresh allocations allegedly authorised by the traditional ruler.
Sources said the matter was later brought before the monarch for clarification following the conflicting claims.
The defendants were further accused of allocating another parcel of land to the company as compensation before allegedly reselling the same property to another buyer.
Reacting to the development, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Dr Olukayode Ajulo (SAN), said the government would sustain its crackdown on land grabbing and fraudulent land transactions across the state.
Ajulo, who also chairs the state’s Anti-Land Grabbing Task Force, stated that individuals involved in illegal land dealings, forceful takeover of property and activities capable of causing communal unrest would face prosecution irrespective of their social status.
He warned that the menace posed a serious threat to investment and peaceful coexistence in the state.
“We cannot allow criminal activities in land transactions to destroy the investment climate in Ondo State. The government is determined to restore sanity and public confidence in land administration,” he said.
The attorney general added that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa had given a firm directive that land grabbing must be eradicated in the state.
According to him, the government remains committed to protecting genuine landowners, investors and property rights through strict enforcement of the law.
Ajulo stressed that no individual, regardless of influence or position, would be spared if found culpable in illegal land activities.
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