The Oyeyemi family has tackled the Oba of Lagos, King Riliwanu Akiolu, over an “ancestral” property located at 87, Docemu Street, Lagos Island.

The head of the family, Chief Mrs Moriliat Onikoyi, who spoke with our correspondent on Sunday, said anytime the family made efforts to access the building for renovation as it had been marked stressed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency, they were being stopped by persons suspected to be at the behest of the Oba of Lagos.

According to a lease agreement document obtained by PUNCH Metro, dated May 20, 1989, it was gathered that the property was given to a developer to manage for 20 years and then return it back.

The agreement was signed by six persons including the then Ojora of Lagos, Taoridi Akanni; Mustapha Akinolu, and Adedeji Aromire, as well as three others. In the document, the six persons were grouped into three groups, namely, the Oluya, Adeshina and Meku.

Meanwhile, over three decades later, upon which the 20-year-lease has expired, the Oyeyemi family who are also of the Aromire chieftaincy family of Lagos, said only the Oyeyemis had title documents of the property, which is now a two-storey building. The family shared the title document with our correspondent.

Onikoyi said, “I wasn’t around when my family – three others – gave that place to a developer. Coincidentally, the person who was our lawyer then is the present Chief Justice of Lagos. As it was going then, the developer had developed the property to an extent, so it was agreed that he should be allowed to use it for the agreed period and return the property, as agreed by the representatives of the Aromire chieftaincy family. When the agreement expired, we wrote to Kabiesi (the king) about it, but he did not agree.

“We want to go to court, but our people are only persuading us against going to court.

They’re using unnecessary sentiments saying the Oyeyemis own the property, Onikoyi said, “We inherited the property and we have the title document.”

Another source in the family said the agreement being held on to by the king is an expired lease agreement that was only valid through the lease period, which had since expired, after the 20-year agreement.

“When that agreement expired, the developer was supposed to come and meet us, but he went to the king,” the source added.

“That house has been marked “stressed” by the state government and we’re fighting to meet the deadline to renovate it. If it is truly their property, will they be looking at it till it collapses?” she added.

Onikoyi said when the family’s developer put a notice on the building to commence renovation, the developer was prevented.

Two of the king’s aides declined to comment on the matter and referred our correspondent to the king.

In one of the letters from the palace directed to the Oyeyemi family, seen by our correspondent, the Ojora of Ijoraland, Lagos, Oba Fatai Aremu, was said to have the king’s mandate to handle the matter.

When PUNCH Metro contacted Ojora, he noted that though the agreement document made decades ago made the matter complicated, he directed our correspondent to the king for a proper reaction.

Our correspondent contacted the Oba of Lagos, who was in the United Kingdom, on Wednesday.

The king said the Oyeyemi family “were being greedy,” noting that the property belonged to the Aromire family, which he is also a member of, and that it does not belong to just the Oyeyemi family.

Oba Akiolu said, “Greed is not good. That property is the Aromire chieftaincy property. When we developed it 20 years ago, the person who prepared the agreement (was fraudulent). He’s an elder brother to me. The man is looking for money at all costs. Greed is not good. The entire Aromire chieftaincy family; the mother of my father is of the Aromire family. When you see the documents, go through it. The whole money we collect (from that property) is intact in an account. It’s greed that is worrying them; they’re looking for what to eat.”

When the spokesperson for LABSCA, Adetayo Akitoye-Asagba, was contacted on Sunday, as to whether a process was on to grant a renovation permit for the said property, she said she would confirm.

“I would have to confirm that. But for any renovation or remodeling, a permit should be obtained from the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority,” Adetayo said. (The PUNCH)

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