By Ade Oyeyemi
The Ondo State Anti-Land Grabbing Task Force has denied allegations that its operatives harassed a 104-year-old woman and threatened members of the Fawehinmi family with arrest.
The task force described the allegations as misleading, insisting that its investigation was based on a petition against one Olanrewaju Fawehinmi and did not target other members of his family.
In a statement issued in response to reports on the matter, the agency said Fawehinmi had allegedly failed to honour several invitations issued to him or respond to calls concerning the petition.
It said a warrant of arrest was subsequently obtained against him after the invitations were allegedly ignored.
The task force maintained that the warrant was directed at Fawehinmi and not his elderly relative or any other member of the family.
“We got a warrant of arrest against Olanrewaju having defaulted on the invitations, simply to enforce the law,” the task force stated.
The agency also rejected the suggestion that the filing of a court action prevented it from carrying out its investigative responsibilities.
According to the task force, the mere institution of a suit does not automatically suspend an agency’s statutory functions unless there is a specific court order restraining it from acting.
The development followed reports alleging that the task force had harassed Fawehinmi’s 104-year-old relative and threatened members of the family over a land-related matter.
Reacting to the allegations, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and Chairman of the task force, Olukayode Ajulo, SAN, described the reports as a distraction and said they would not affect the agency’s operations.
Ajulo said the state government’s anti-land-grabbing policy was aimed at restoring order, reducing violence and promoting due process in land-related disputes across the state.
He maintained that the task force would continue to carry out its responsibilities professionally and in accordance with the law, despite what he described as attempts to politicise its activities.
The commissioner also stressed that the task force was a formally constituted body operating under his office, rather than a group of individuals acting independently.
He said its secretary was a senior lawyer of director cadre, while its head of enforcement was a trained security professional of commander rank.
Ajulo said he was particularly concerned about the involvement of the elderly woman in the controversy, noting that he had a 91-year-old mother and understood the vulnerability of people at such an advanced age.
“Perhaps I feel this more deeply because I am also a son to a fragile 91-year-old mother. I understand the tenderness, dignity and care that someone of that age deserves,” he said.
The Attorney-General argued that an elderly relative should not be drawn into a dispute concerning another family member, adding that the warrant of arrest was issued against Fawehinmi and not his relative.
He urged the person named in the warrant to present himself to the appropriate authorities and respond to the allegations against him.
“If there is a case to answer, let the person against whom the warrant was issued present himself and answer it. There is no justification whatsoever for turning his head of the family into the face of the controversy,” Ajulo stated.
He also cautioned lawyers against what he described as frivolous or obstructive court processes aimed at frustrating the task force’s activities.
Ajulo said lawyers, as officers of the court, were expected to operate within the Rules of Professional Conduct, adding that appropriate action would be taken where any practitioner was found to have crossed professional boundaries.
The commissioner further appealed to media organisations reporting the dispute to seek responses from all parties before publication.
He urged journalists to present what he described as the full facts of the matter, rather than relying solely on the portrayal of the elderly woman or accounts from one side of the dispute.
