By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
A Lagos-based lawyer, Charles Ugwuanyi, has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to intervene and call the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP) to order over what he described as contradictory and harassing actions by the Lagos State Police Command in a land dispute at Peace Estate, Okota.
Ugwuanyi raised the alarm while detailing the arrest and detention of his client, Alhaji Jamiu Raimi Olonade, a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) holder over a parcel of land on Idowu Rufai Street, Okota.
He said the incident, which occurred on Thursday, 15 January, 2026, exposed “conflicting actions within the same police command.”
He explained that about 30 police officers were officially deployed to protect Olonade while he erected a fence on his land following earlier disruptions allegedly caused by the Peace Estate Residents Association.
“The application for police protection was duly made and approved,” he said.
However, Ugwuanyi added, the Lagos State Police Task Force arrived at the site around 2pm and arrested Olonade on the pretext that an alarm was raised on social media that someone was building on a road.
“When the Task Force operatives arrived, the police officers already on ground advised our client to cooperate and show them his documents, believing the issue would be resolved immediately,” he said.
He noted that while Olonade was taken away, the officers officially assigned to protect him continued guarding his workers, who completed the fencing before leaving around 6pm. “Shockingly, despite the fact that 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,” Ugwuanyi said.
He further alleged that during Olonade’s detention, residents of Peace Estate, with what he described as tacit support of the Task Force, invaded the land at night and destroyed the fence after the police officers assigned to protect the site had left.
He pointed out that in their petition, the residents admitted that Olonade came to the land “in the company of many police officers and what they described as thugs,” highlighting the contradictions in the police actions.
“This raises a fundamental question,” he said. “Is it the same Commissioner of Police that deployed officers to protect our client and his workers that also sent Task Force operatives to arrest him based on a social media post? Obviously, something is not adding up.”
Ugwuanyi stressed that the matter had been reported to Zone 2 of the Nigeria Police Force and “was being handled under the directive of the IGP.” He accused the residents of forum shopping by moving from Zone 2 to Abuja, and now from the courts to the Task Force and the CP “in search of favourable intervention.”
He emphasized 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.
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 warned that continued police involvement “could amount to interference in a matter that is sub judice,” noting that the dispute is already before the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.
He concluded: “Unless the IGP intervenes decisively to restore order and ensure respect for due process, we may be forced to escalate this matter to the Senate Committee on Public Petitions.”
