For several journalists working with The Sun Publishing Limited, what was meant to be a lifetime investment has turned into a painful struggle for justice.
Many of them said the plots of land they bought years ago through their cooperative society in Arobieye community in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State are now being taken over and resold by alleged land grabbers.
The affected journalists are now calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to urgently act on their petition and investigate the former president of their cooperative society over alleged complicity in the dispute.
The journalists said their appeal has become more urgent as new leaders in the community claim they have no knowledge of the original transaction between the former head of the Akanni family and the cooperative society that bought the land.
According to them, the denial has allegedly emboldened some community figures to resell the land and encourage new buyers to begin construction, despite existing police and court directives.
The matter has dragged on for years, leaving dozens of journalists and their families uncertain about the future of the properties they paid for with their savings.
In 2024, members of the cooperative had already raised the alarm, urging the Ogun State Government to intervene and stop the alleged encroachment on their estate land.
They also appealed to the traditional ruler of Ota, Oba Adeyemi Abdul-Kabir Obalanlege, the Olota of Ota, to intervene and prevail on the Baale of the community, Nurudeen Dada, to halt the alleged resale of their land.
At the heart of the dispute is a petition submitted to the EFCC’s Lagos office on March 30, 2024, against the former cooperative president, Nkem Nwokocha.
The petition alleged that she purchased 18 plots of land about 13 years ago from the late head of the Akanni family, Chief Jacob Akanni and later allocated the plots to cooperative members.
According to the journalists, each member paid N400,000 for the plots, a price they said was nearly three times the prevailing land cost in the community at the time.
They added that members were also required to pay an additional N243,750 each to clear and fence the land, a project they claim was never executed.
“We paid the extra money to clear and fence the land, but the work was never done,” the journalists said in their petition.
Some members, they explained, later received official documents such as survey plans and deeds of assignment from the Ogun State Government, which encouraged them to begin preparing for construction.
While some members started building foundations, others began small farming activities or erected markers on their plots to identify their property.
However, the journalists alleged that the former cooperative president still retained key documents relating to the land and has continued to sell portions of the property years after leaving the organisation.
They further alleged that parts of the land in both Sango and Mowe belonging to cooperative members have been resold to new buyers.
“In recent times, she has been working with some community leaders to sell the land again and emboldening the buyers to build on it,” one member alleged.
The journalists said they had earlier reported the issue to the police in Sango Ota, who reportedly confirmed that the land belonged to the cooperative after reviewing documents issued by the state government.
According to them, the police advised the parties to maintain the status quo after the dispute was taken to court by a community leader, Sulaimon Oke.
“But, unfortunately, they have continued selling our land and building on it,” the journalists lamented.
“We would have started construction on our plots, but as law-abiding citizens, we chose to respect the court process. Meanwhile, our land is disappearing before our eyes and we face constant threats,” they said.
The journalists also raised concerns about a building approval allegedly granted by officials within the state’s lands and planning ministry for development on a plot that is already the subject of litigation.
They called for a full investigation into the controversial approval identified as Approval No. GPDPA | IY24 | R | C1 | 27, questioning why any permit would be issued while the matter remains before a competent court.
“We are calling on the Surveyor-General, the Commissioner for Planning and the Permanent Secretary to investigate how such approval was granted,” the journalists said.
“We believe Nigeria is not a country where injustice should prevail. There must be respect for the rule of law.”
They insisted that community leaders involved in the alleged land sales must be held accountable if found guilty of violating court directives.
“The community leaders cannot be above the law of Nigeria,” they added. “Their actions amount to contempt of court and they should face the full consequences.”
The journalists also urged the EFCC to arrest and investigate the former cooperative leader, alleging that she still visits the disputed land secretly while retaining critical documents used to support the alleged resale of plots.
According to them, even former executives of the cooperative confirmed that the documents relating to the land remained in her custody.
For the affected journalists, the fight is no longer just about land. “It is about justice, fairness and protecting the sweat of workers, who invested their life savings,” one of them said. “All we want is for the authorities to act and restore our rights.”
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