Family Secretary
The Olumegbon Chieftaincy Family of Ajah and Okun-Ajah kingdom has decried what it described as the unwarranted incursion of a Lagos monarch into the family’s affairs and the alleged illegal installation of an Oba-elect.
General Secretary of the family, Elder Alhaji Machado Adesina, who said he has held the position for 36 years, addressed the press on Wednesday. He alleged that the Lagos monarch, a former police officer, has been interfering in the family’s matters, including the sale of their ancestral land using police influence.
Adesina said the monarch had placed a caveat emptor on the family’s vast land on the grounds that he assisted their forebears financially during a court case with their customary tenants, despite having been adequately compensated.
According to the 77-year-old, he was recently arrested by the Lagos monarch and detained at the Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos State, for 32 days without bail. He said the arrest followed his challenge of the monarch’s actions in the family where, he claimed, the monarch was only adopted.
While in detention, Adesina said he fell ill, lost his memory, and was rushed to the police hospital in Ikoyi. He said the police contacted the monarch, warning that he might die in the hospital if not released. He added that his lawyers later challenged his continued detention without trial at the Lagos High Court and he was arraigned on charges of criminal conspiracy and acts capable of causing breach of peace. The court granted him bail, and the matter is still pending.
Adesina said his ordeal stemmed from his opposition to the monarch’s alleged forceful and illegal appointment of Alhaji Abdulateef Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon as the Oba-elect of Ajah and Okun-Ajah kingdom, contrary to the family’s choice of Pastor Emmanuel Olusegun Olumegbon.
He alleged that while in police custody, the monarch sent some members of his family to him with a document to sign in support of Alhaji Abdulateef Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon as the Oba-elect, but he declined.
Adesina said that upon regaining his freedom, he discovered that a meeting of the family was held which records claimed he “attended and signed” in support of Alhaji Abdulateef Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon as the Oba-elect. He said he petitioned the forensic unit of the FCID to verify the signature. According to him, the forensic result showed his signature was forged.
He said he is prepared to contest the forgery which led to the installation of Alhaji Abdulateef Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon as the Oba of Olumegbon. He stated that he had petitioned the Lagos State Government, the police, and the Eti-Osa Local Government over the forgery, maintaining that it caused discontent between the state government, which gave its nod to the installation, and the police, which he said failed to investigate the forgery until a petition was sent to the forensic unit.
“Oba Riliwanu Aremu Akiolu is not and will never be member of the Olumegbon royal family, never,” Adesina said. He recounted that Chief Lamidi Kalefo, the predecessor of the late Chief Fatai Lawal Olumegbon of Lagos, Ajah and Okun-Ajah kingdom, was a member of the Onisiwo chieftaincy family. He said Chief Kalefo was installed as Olumegbon of Lagos around 1954 and took a young Riliwanu Akiolu into his palace for adoption.
According to Adesina, Akiolu began his primary and secondary education while living at the Olumegbon family house. After secondary school, he worked briefly with the Nigerian Railway Corporation, resigned, and joined the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service when the state was created in 1966. He later enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force.
Adesina said Chief Kalefo handed the young Akiolu over to Oba Adeyinka Oyekan of Lagos. He added that around 1960, when Alhaji Femi Okunu was made Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing, Okunu handed Akiolu to Theophilus Fagbola, then a Deputy Inspector General of Police, during the tenure of Inspector General Louise Edet.
Adesina further stated that Akiolu was given a plot of land at Becklin Street, Obalende, Lagos, by the then governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, as a show of gratitude. He said Akiolu did not sell the plot but, with the help of a Lebanese he assisted as a policeman, secured credit from the now defunct International Bank for Credit and Commerce to build a structure on the land. Jakande later gave him the certificate of occupancy.
He maintained that the Olumegbon Royal family owned the vast land in Ajah and Okun-Ajah kingdom from time immemorial. He said the family had a judgment on the land as far back as 1896 up to the Supreme Court. With road construction by Jakande from Maroko to Epe, Ajah opened up and customary tenants became wealthy, selling family land and denying the family access. This led to court action.
Adesina said that by this time, members of Ajah and Okun-Ajah kingdom were confined to Lagos metropolis, giving tenants leverage to sell lands and use proceeds to fight the family. He said that by 2002, the Supreme Court finally ruled that the entire land of Ajah and Okun-Ajah belongs to the Olumegbon chieftaincy family.
He said their fathers began holding meetings with Akiolu as though he was a family member, but those elders died one after the other. Adesina alleged that Akiolu then saw an opportunity to usurp the family’s land, using his police influence to sell land at Oloko-nla, Ajiweh, Alasia, and Monastery, and deployed police Mopol to remain on the land.
He reiterated that while in police custody, a document was brought for him to sign as a condition for his freedom to support Alhaji Abdulateef Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon as the Oba-elect. He said he refused. He added that he later discovered a meeting of the four branches of the family was recorded with his forged signature in attendance.
“I petitioned the forensic unit of the FCID Annex Alagbon Ikoyi Lagos and the result was that my signature was forged. We are therefore seeking justice from relevant and concerned authorities even though we are prepared to challenge the illegal installation of Abdulateef Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon in court,” Adesina said.
