A Lagos community leader, Chief Busari Abatan Adeleye, has filed a N50 million fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Commissioner of Police, Force Intelligence Department, FID, Lagos Annex, Akanniyene Ezima, over alleged harassment, intimidation, and unlawful arrest.
Chief Adeleye, who serves as the Baale of Adeleye Opeki Community in Abesan, Ipaja, Lagos, instituted the action at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja. Two of his family members, Taiwo Adeleye and Akinola Akeem Adeleye, are co-applicants in the case, while one Egonte Chukwuma Onyema was joined as the third respondent.
The applicants are seeking a judicial declaration that their arrest and detention between September 15 and 16, allegedly orchestrated by Onyema, amounted to a gross violation of their fundamental rights to liberty, dignity of person, and property, as protected under Sections 35, 36, and 44 of the 1999 Constitution.
They urged the court to hold that their arrest, which stemmed from allegations of trespass, wrongful execution of judgment, and malicious damage, was unlawful and unconstitutional. According to them, the police actions, purportedly carried out on Onyema’s instructions, constituted abuse of power and unlawful interference with their rights.
In their prayers, the applicants are asking for restraining orders to prevent further arrests or harassment by the respondents. They are also demanding N50 million in general damages and N5 million in aggravated damages for the alleged violations.
In a 31-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Taiwo Adeleye, the applicants maintained that their family are the customary owners of Opeki Village land in Abesan, Lagos. He stated that their ownership claim had been legally affirmed by a Lagos State High Court judgment delivered on July 7, 2022, by Justice O.A. Taiwo in suit No: ID/1495/2010, Alhaji Sule Ajibade & Ors v. Hajia Rauf Ajala & Ors.
Despite being aware of the court’s decision, Onyema allegedly continued to instigate the police to interfere unlawfully with the family’s rights and to forcefully re-enter the disputed land.
The affidavit also noted that the land dispute had been the subject of a long-standing civil suit between the applicants and one Andrew Egonte, the father of the third respondent. Court records show that processes, including the writ of summons and hearing notices, were duly served on Egonte as far back as May 2011, but his counsel failed to file a defence, prompting the court to enter judgment in favour of the Adeleye family.
As of the time of filing, the IGP, Ezima, and Onyema have yet to file any response to the suit, and the court has not fixed a date for hearing.
