A Lagos-based lawyer, Charles Ugwuanyi, has urged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to call the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP) to order over what he described as contradictory, unlawful and harassing actions of the Lagos State Police Command in a land dispute involving Peace Estate, Okota.
Ugwuanyi said his client, Alhaji Jamiu Raimi Olonade, a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) holder, was arrested and detained over a parcel of land at Idowu Rufai Street, Okota, despite being provided with prior police security.
He stressed that a state police command lacks the authority to interfere in a matter already before a zonal command acting on the instructions of the IGP, adding that the Lagos State Police Command must respect the offices of the IGP and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Onikan.
According to the lawyer, the Lagos State Police Command allegedly acted at cross purposes within its own structure on January 15, 2026.
Ugwuanyi said that on that day, about 30 police officers from the Lagos State Command were officially deployed to provide security for Olonade while he was erecting a fence on his land, following earlier disruptions by members of the Peace Estate Residents Association. He said the application for police protection was duly made and approved.
“Yet, under the same Commissioner of Police, the Task Force was sent to arrest our client on the pretext that an alarm was raised on social media that someone was building on a road,” Ugwuanyi said.
He explained that when Task Force operatives arrived at about 2pm, the police officers already providing security advised Olonade to cooperate and show them his documents, believing the issue would be resolved immediately.
Ugwuanyi said that while the Task Force took Olonade away, the police officers attached to him continued to provide security for his workers, who continued the fencing of the land until about 6pm before closing for the day.
“Shockingly, even though our client showed all his documents to the Task Force Chairman and their in-house lawyer, he was unjustifiably detained till about 8pm the following day,” he said.
The lawyer further alleged that during the period of detention, the land was invaded at night and the fence erected by Olonade was destroyed after the police officers officially deployed to protect him had left.
Ugwuanyi said: “This raises a fundamental question. Is it the same Commissioner of Police who deployed officers to protect our client and his workers, who also sent Task Force operatives to arrest him based on a social media post? Obviously, something is not adding up.”
The lawyer reiterated that the matter had earlier been reported to Zone 2 and was being handled under the directive of the IGP.
He accused the residents of engaging in forum shopping, moving from Zone 2 to Abuja, and now from the courts to the Task Force and the CP, in search of favourable intervention.
The lawyer maintained that Olonade’s land was duly verified by all relevant Lagos State agencies, certified as residential, issued a valid C of O and granted building approval.
He added that the dispute is already before the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, and warned that continued police involvement could amount to interference in a matter that is sub judice.
Ugwuanyi said unless the IGP intervenes decisively to restore order and ensure respect for due process, the matter may be escalated to the Senate.
