Fed High Court restrains Lagos Task Force Boss, from arresting owner of Harmony Gardens Properties

The Federal High Court has issued an interim order, restraining the chairman of Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force), Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Shola Jejeloye SP Salako, DSP Otunbu and others from making arrests, detaining, intimidating, threatening, or taking any untoward action against the developer of Harmony Gardens and Estate Development Ltd, Abdullahi Saheed Mosadoluwa and all the members of Parapo of Abomiti Resettlement Land faction led by Chief Obafemi Obajimi, who is one of the six accredited representatives of Resettlement beneficiaries.
The Abomiti and Eyin Osa land dispute cases continue to draw attention in Lagos State, where land disputes are a recurring issue.
According to the judgement, the order remains in effect until the substantive motion is heard on November 24, 2023.
The order was given after a group of individuals representing the beneficiaries of the Free Trade Zone Parcel B Resettlement Communities (Parapo), which includes Eyin-Osa, Abomiti, and Yeguda Zones Resettlement landowners, sought legal action in the Federal High Court against Jejeloye.
The Resettlement Communities, represented by Chief Rahman Olakunle, Chief Olasunkanmi Ikujenya, Apena Adijat, Chief Onayemi Obajimi Obafemi, and Pearl Ehighimetor for Harmony Gardens, took the matter to the court to seek relief from further actions by CSP Jejeloye.
The court emphasized the importance of respecting court orders and maintaining the status quo in this contentious land dispute.
However, in a separate but related case, CSP Ishola Jejeloye’s charges against Hon. Abdullahi Saheed Mosadoluwa (A.K.A) Mr. Ibile at the Lagos Special Offences (Mobile) Court, with charge number SOC/TF/B/114/2023, address other issues and find that the Chairman task force charged the investor to court on the issue related to land disputes and said the nominal complaints, Itunu (Veritasi Homes) and Jejeloye should maintain the status quo.
During the proceedings, the defense counsel raised concerns about Jejeloye, directing officers in the subject matter of the suit. The court, in its ruling, emphasized that taking possession or repossession of premises through self-help, abuse of public office privileges, and the use of force are forbidden, and parties should seek legal redress instead of the overzealous actions of the task force in favor of one party.
In response to the complainant’s defiance of the court’s ruling to maintain the status quo, the court ordered the nominal complainant, Veritasi Homes and Property Limited, the owner of Itunu City, to maintain the status quo. Furthermore, the Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, CSP Jejeloye, and any officers of the Task Force were directed to refrain from encroaching or erecting anything on the subject matter of the suit.