The management of Ikeja Saddle Club has decried the recent invasion and destruction of its property by thugs and men from the Nigerian police force, in the name of enforcing court order despite an appeal and motion for a ‘stay of execution’ over the property, that’s still pending at the Supreme Court.
Wole Osinupebi, President of Ikeja Saddle Club, during a press conference on Friday in Lagos, frown at the level of brigandage and impunity exhibited by these landgrabbers in destroying its properties.
It would recalled that at the early hours of September 23, 2021, about 60 hoodlums invaded the club, destroyed some structures with a bulldozer and cut down trees on the premises under the watch of cops and armed plain-cloth men numbering about 40.
Osinupebi giving account on what happened on that day said that a team of heavily armed policemen alongside other armed men in plain clothes invaded and took over its property without warning.
He noted that when staff members on ground tried to inquire from the officers where they came from, they blatantly refused to disclose where they were from or who sent them to invade the property.
He said the policemen equally took some staff of the club away to an unknown destination, when they meticulously and systematically began to destroy the properties.
According to him, “They removed the roof of the reception area, brought in chainsaws and started cutting and falling down trees in the compound.
“They were boasting that they were bringing in bulldozers to completely pull down the club house, reception area and other buildings on the land and bring down and uproot all the trees on the property.
“It was much later in the day that we got to know that the policemen were from the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2, Onikan.”
Osinupebi accused the Ikumoworo Family, led by one Princess Josephine Momoh of being the mastermind of the invasion of the property.
He said that Momoh “claimed to have secured a judgment of the High Court of Lagos State, delivered by Honourable Justice Candido Johnson on May 3, 2016 in a Suit No.1D/1352/2001.
“They claimed that the judgment of the High Court, Lagos declared them owners of the said land and that the said judgment has been affirmed by the Court of Appeal in a Judgment delivered on November 14, 2019.
“Further that they have sold the area of land being occupied by our client to one Alhaji who could not take possession of the property because our client is on the land.”
Bode Olanipekun,SAN in a public notice issued on the instruction of and information given by Ikeja Saddle Club and dated 10th day of October,2021 dispelled all the claims by Ikumoworo Family.
The public notice further stated that Ikeja Saddle Club was not part of Suit No: ID/1352/2001, in which the claimants based their invasion of the club upon.
The statement reads in part, “It has now subsequently come to our client’s notice that, while Suit No: ID/258/2009 was ongoing, the said Princess Momoh along side two other persons advancing the cause of the Ikumoworo family were prosecuting another claim before the High court of Lagos State without making the Ikeja Saddle Club a party.
“The said suit was Prince Micheal Adesegun Bakare (for himself and other members of Ikumoworo family), Solfun Nig. Ltd and Princess Josephine Momoh V. Mr. O Asafa & 8 O rs. Suit No: ID/1352/2001.
“Judgment was delivered in favour of the Claimants on 3rd May, 2015 in Suit No: ID/1352/2001 and the said Claimants whose privy had initially, initiated Suit No: ID/258/2009 against the Ikeja Saddle Club and subsequently discontinued the claim now seek to enforce the Judgment in Suit No: ID/1352/2001 against the Ikeja saddle Club when the said Claimants deliberately failed to make Ikeja Saddle Club a Party to the said suit even though they had full knowledge that:
i.Ikeja Saddle Club was/is in possession of the property;
ii.The property was/is not a bare land and has been developed into a recreational and tourist center by Ikeja Saddle Club;
iii.Ikeja saddle Club owns/holds a Certificate of Occupancy in respect of the property; and
iv.All of i-iii above had happened and / or were in place before Suit No; ID/1352/2001 was initiated.
“In the past few days, the premises of the Ikeja Saddle Club have been forcefully broken into and invaded with properties destroyed under the guise of enforcing the Judgment of the Lagos State High court in Suit No; ID/1352/2001 where the Ikeja Saddle Club was not a party.
“The unbroken parts of the exterior of perimeter fence of the Club have also been smeared with various inscriptions for this purpose.
“The said enforcement is being carried out despite a pending appeal at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division, by the Attorney General of Lagos State and other Lagos State Government entities sued as defendants in Suit No: ID/1352/2001 and a motion for stay of execution.
“The Ikeja Saddle Club draws membership from nationalities across various continents and, being the pioneer equestrian club in Africa, it is a showcase to the world of what Nigeria has on offer and is indeed in the lime/spot light in global equestrian and tourism circles.
“In the face of the recent unprovoked attacks on the property and staff of Ikeja Saddle Club, the Club will continue to take all legitimate steps available under the law to protect its interest in, and right to its property, subject of a Certificate of Occupancy, which, is verifiable from the Land Registry of Lagos State and is also here with publicly advertised as further notice to the general public”.
