By ARUGA JOE OMOKARO, Lagos

The disputed land at Ibeju-Lekki in Lagos, is taking a dangerous dimension.

It was learnt that armed thugs operating in a Sienna car had invaded the land in the evening of last Monday, January 29, 2024.

The security man guarding equipment that are being used in clearing and sand-filling the vast land was said to have taken refuge on sighting the strange vehicle at an odd time.

“Where he was hiding, he sent text (SMS) to the police. The police promptly responded and arrested cone of them, while the rest escaped in the Sienna car,” a dependable source close to the police in Force Headquarter (FHQ) Abuja, disclosed.

We also learnt that the one arrested is identified as Sheyi Wahid and was whisked to FHQ on Tuesday.

“He is being interrogated by detectives of IGP Monitoring Unit,” the source disclosed.

The Ibeju-Lekki land controversy has pitched Eletu Oluwo and Saula-Imam families against the Director of Bafaj company, Babalola Fajobi, as well as the Director of Kwawel company, Emmanuel Usman.

The ancestral owners of the vast land had contracted Kwawel to reclaim and develop the land which was a thick forest in 2018.

About two years after Kwawel had developed the land to an enviable level, Bafaj was said to have surfaced and claimed that he was the owner of the land, and as such Kwawel should vacate the property.

Investigations show that Bafaj actually bought part of the land but from a wrong family.

It was learnt that the real owners (Eletu Oluwo and Saula-Imam families) were yet to ratify the portion Bafaj bought before contracting Kwawel.

It Is not yet clear who sent the armed thugs that invaded the disputed land on Monday.

However, there was an allegation that Bafaj was using the influence of former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) incharge of State CID Panti Yaba, Lagos, CP Waheed Ayilara, to get armed policemen to harass and assault workers of Kwawel.

Ayilara was promoted Commissioner of Police two weeks ago and deployed to head Akwa lbom State Police Command on Wednesday.

Apart from Kwawel’s petition, the families also wrote a petition against the former DCP to the Minister of Police Affairs, the Police Service Commission and the National Security Adviser (NSA), accusing the former DCP of complicity.

Consequent upon the alleged harassment and assault of Kwawel workers, as well as alleged damage of Kwawel equipment, Usman sent a petition to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun. The IGP was said to have referred the petition to his Monitoring Unit, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).

The DCP was said to have invited Bafaj, Kwawel and the affected families to Force HQ Abuja in November 2023, where peace agreement was allegedly reached.