The Baale of Omu Penpe town in Obafemi Owode Local government in Ogun state, Nurudeen Bisiriyu Taiwo has been accused of misusing power to arrest his family members that tried to ask him for accountability by laying false accusations against them, hereby misleading police officers to carry out arrests.
Nurudeen Taiwo, who according to his family members had once been arrested for his alleged criminal activities, was described in an interview as unruly and disobedient to the people who supported him to his current position.
In an interview with one of his uncles, Chief Monsuru Fayemi Sonola, it was revealed that some years back, they came together to report Nurudeen Bisiriu Taiwo at the Ogboni house for his unacceptable actions in the community and even arrested after which he wrote an undertaking to start acting rightly.
However, Chief Mosuru made it known that when they as a family requested Nurudeen Taiwo to give account of some of his activities which included selling of landed properties, he bounced on them with thugs, cultists and police officers who have arrested about three of them on ‘unfounded allegations’ of transformer and pole theft.
According to him, the Baale had handed over some of their landed properties to some land grabbers without their knowledge but instead of giving accounts, he lied against them to the police that they stole transformers and due to that, the police has been picking them up.
Chief Monsuru faulted the police for not investigating matters before making arrest because many of them can’t sleep in their houses anymore because of fear of arrest.
“We took our Baale to Ogboni house in Abeokuta and they instructed that we go back home to hold a meeting and get back to them. We had arrested him before because of his misdeeds, he was involved in thuggery, cultism, drugs and other social vices and when we took his matter to police because he was causing unrest, he wrote an undertaking that he won’t do such again.”
“Suddenly, we asked him to give account of the landed properties he sold and things in the community that he has sold and since then, the next time we saw him was with so many thugs. He went to give landed properties to one Umoru, Atala and Wasiu in Ofada and we were surprised because as family, we should know about it but he never listened. He has now started conniving with the police to arrest us, claiming we stole transformers and poles in the community. He went to LANDS in Abeokuta and sadly, they didn’t investigate the matter at all. Their leader is ACP Mustapha Hakeem and in conjuction with SUPOL Kazeem who has been arresting our people without investigating. About three people have been imprisoned now and if we attempt to go to court, they make arrest from there because he has been promised landed properties and given money. Once they are arrested, he takes them to court and ensure they are imprisoned, we need the help of Ogun state government.”
“They are arresting our people for wire, transformer, poles and I don’t know how it’s possible that we stole these things. They didn’t invite us at all, they just started arresting and at the moment, we have all left our homes because of these issues”
Likewise, the junior brother to the Baale’s father, Ezekiel Taiwo lamented the treatment he has been made to go through in the hands of the Baale whom he literally made to get to his position. He explained that he sold his car to the baale but till today, he is yet to pay him.
The 82-year-old Uncle tearfully narrated how he has become someone who scout with someone because he has been threatened with death in the house he built in the community because he isn’t in support of the Baale’s actions.
“I supported him to be the Baale and this is the 14th year yet there is no otun, osi or other chiefs. I bought my car, sold to him but till now he hasn’t given me the money. He is destroying the community and going about threatening people. I have left my house for five months now because he has been sending people to kill me, I have ran for my life at the village.”
Furthermore, Tajudeen Oresanya, a hotelier from a border community to Omu Penpe, Olusegbe/Penpe who is currently fighting for justice in court on account of the Baale’s misdeeds narrated how his life is being threatened because he is trying to retrieve the balance for his mother’s landed property which she sold to one Kolawole Alade.
He also fingered the police in all of these while expressing surprise at how the Baale is trying to influence threats against him despite the fact that he isn’t ruling in his community.
“My mother sold landed properties to some people but they didn’t pay and the document is still on ground. After then, I saw that they came to arrest me from Alagbon for theft of poles and transformer and when I got there, I wrote statement and when they saw it wasn’t true, they released me. After then, police came at night again from Eleweran but they didn’t see me neither did they drop invitation letter. I was in my hotel one afternoon when they came again, and I followed them, I wrote a statement regarding what happened and I don’t know anything about the transformer, I don’t live in the place where transformer got missing but they have been harassing me so they can collect my mother’s properties.”
“When I got to Eleweeran, we went to court and I was granted bail but three days after I returned, multitude of vehicles came to my hotel to probably harm me but I wasn’t around. Umar Landgrabber in Ofada, Wasiu Atala, Lekan Jaluwon, Kolawole Alade were among and they destroyed the hotel. They were beating and inflicting injury on those I know and those I sold land to. They traced my vehicle that was driven by my manager and warned him not to drive the car again because they were expecting to see me in the vehicle. After then VSO went to my house looking for me, they went to my hotel to look for me and they even placed a N50,000 bounty on me. Meanwhile, the day I went to court, their lawyer didn’t come. This Baale and the langrabbers came during the first sitting but on the day when the case was adjourned to, none of them came except Hakeem Mustapha who had stationed a vehicle and planned to arrest me from the court but God saved me. Since then, I haven’t gone home in two months, my junior brother gave birth and till now, we haven’t done the naming ceremony. What I have with these people is they didn’t complete payment for the land, my mother sold the land to Kolawole Alade but whenever we ask him to show up, he says it’s the company that owns the land that will come. The Baale in question isn’t from our town, and I have the documents, please save us.”
However, when this publication spoke to ACP Hakeem Mustapha, he claimed that he acted based on anti-land grabbing law of 2016 and didn’t flout any of them.
