The Olabisi Onabanjo University town, Ago-iwoye is currently having its hitherto serenity broken by hymn of burble. Disaffection is growing and the traditional head of the town, the Ebumawe, Oba Abdulrasak Adesina Adenugba is also feeling the heat.
TheTabloid.net gathered that the monarch had been a guest at a law enforcement agent state headquarters in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Over what?
He was invited over what looks like a fight to finish between him and nine confederating communities that constitued Ago-Iwoye under the aegies of Iwoye United Kingdoms Patriots, a body which wrote a petition against his alleged land grabbing escapade.
At a world conference in Ibadan on October 25, 2025, over 40 representatives of the communities shed more light on their tales of woes, which they supported with documents and videos evidence establishing their towns untold hardship under the monarch whose stock in trade, according to them, is intimidation and threats with security agents and cultists.
In the communique, which they issued and signed after the conference, they highlighted a number of incidents of land grabbing activities, including the Ayere/Owode/Okebiri land alleged to have already been bulldozed by Oba Adenugba, where food and cash crops worth ₦60 million had been wiped off on 154 acres of land space.
Also completely destroyed, according to the communique, included 600 acres of Moborode Aba Paanu. Property and agric investment destroyed were worth ₦250 million.
They also alleged forceful takeover of Dairo ancestral family farm land and destruction of all Kolanut trees, Cocoa plantation at Oniyangi village.
The communique read: “Total land bulldozed was 205 acres. At Oke Erigba (the Meleki land was bulldozed by Oba Abdul Rasak Adesina Adenugba and his agents.
“The family went ahead to install a sign post that their land is not for sale.
Ebumawe invited the Olori Ebi and issued threats, in his words “se iwo yii ma tu pada si palace yii mo shaa, meaning ‘you can never be alive to visit this palace again’.
“Oba Rasaq is fond of threatening people with juju, DSS and thugs. Always using the name of the Awujale Oba Sikiru Adetona to perpetrate evil, boasting that his son is an inner member of the state government.
“Meanwhile, 18 acres of land was bulldozed before they were stopped. Cocoa plantation, Kolanut trees and food crops were destroyed by Oba Abdul Rasak Adesina Adenugba and his agents.
“At Ita Omo Village, Ayansigoye Family land was bulldozed by Oba Abdul Rasak Adesina Adenugba and his agents.
The case is in court, crops worth ₦24 million were wiped out completely.
Laagan land and Awori land, two thriving and ancient communities, were bulldozed and the owners of the land were threatened and harassed.
“The attention of Ogun State Government of Nigeria in particular is drawn to this unbecoming oppression, wickedness, callousness, intimidation, harassment of our people in Ago Iwoye by Oba Abdul Rasak Adesina Adenugba and his agents.
“Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Ijebu Traditional council, Commissioner, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chairman, Ijebu North Local Government, Commissioner, Ogun State Police Command are all addressed by this communique.”
However, Oba Adenugba rose against the allegations and described the nine aggrieved communities as a liar. “I will sue them because they have to produce evidence that I use thugs or cult group members to harrass or attack them,” stated.
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They’re lying–Oba Adenugba
The Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye, Oba Abdulrasak Adesina Adenugba, in this interview with our crew, denies the allegations levelled against him by the nine communities. Excerpts
How would you react to the issue of land grabbing?
Awori, Okerigba is the land I inherited from my grandfather. That is my dad’s village. And when our fathers died, the village was about to become moribund. When I looked up, thinking of what I could do, I saw one of my children who is very good in Agriculture to take charge of the land. While I was trying to restructure the village, we had to make sure people are there. I even had to go to Cotonou in Benin Republic to bring people to farm there. I have cocoa plantation there. The Ogun State Bureau of Land has granted the boy (the investor) what he wanted to do there because it is for exportation. On this issue of land grabbing, I look at myself. I don’t collect lands for free. As we speak, there is a half plot beside my land. I asked the owner, how much he wanted to sell it. And I ordered the payment of his money immediately. That is why he gets along with me easily because all the land in Ago-Iwoye has owners. They are just lying. They went to report at the police station. In fairness, I was here. If anything wants to happen, I will ask my chiefs to go and verify. And they clear the matter. I also asked them to go to the station to make a statement, which they did. One of them, Samson Sonaike, was summoned by the police to come and defend himself, but he ran away. The next thing, he sued me. He first sued me at the Customary Court. My chiefs were there to represent me, but he didn’t come. From there, he took the case to Abeokuta, but the case was referred back to Ijebu-Igbo, and they said my lawyer can appear for me. The next sitting is December 3rd.
What of your alleged involvement at Ayere where you were alleged to have bulldozed food and cash crops worth ₦60 million, wiped off on 154 acres of land space?
The founder of Ibidagba is from Anikilaya in Ijebu-Ode. When someone is Omo Awujale, he cannot just take one plot, but they have to take two plots, at least. Such an omo Awujale gave lands to all his followers to farm, though without a written document. That is what most of them are now claiming to be theirs. There were no cash crops on the land (he showed a video of when the land was bulldozed) as you can see in this video…no cocoa, or deity there. I have all the evidence to prove the real ownership of the land, and the state of the land when it was bulldozed. The land in question does not belong to Ago-Iwoye. On the alleged bulldozing of 600 acres of farmland at Dairo ancestral family farmland at Moborode, Aba Paanu. The case is in court, but I will talk for the sake of clarification. One, they don’t have any evidence. You see, in Nigeria today, the quickest business one can do to make money is land. That was why the government created an anti-land grabbing unit to treat land-related issues. Police are not even allowed to meddle into it. Such cases cannot even be handled by the Magistrate Court, but by the Customary Court. That is why it is referred to as multidoor. Secondly, there is no land in Aba Paanu that is up to 600 acres. One of my predecessors had done a survey as far back as 1980 when I was not yet a king. And the survey showed land showing properties said to belong to Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye along Ijebu-Ode/Ibadan Road, Oko Oba, Awori Community via Ago Iwoye. Aba Paanu is not there.
What of the allegation of using thugs, cultists to harass and intimidate members of the affected communities?
I will sue them because they have to produce evidence of how I use thugs or cult group members to harass or attack them. They went to Agidigbo FM in Ibadan, on this Ayere matter, alleging me of grabbing their lands and farms. I didn’t answer them. They also went to Eagle FM at Ilese-Ijebu, I didn’t answer them. The next thing is that they took me to Eleweran ati Abeokuta. The Police came to investigate me. Their lawyer now requested that the case should be transferred to Zone 2. At the end of the day, I was asked to go back to the palace, and they came to interrogate me, and I debunked it. The next thing, they took me to court again. This case is in court at the moment. If they have all the necessary document, they should meet me in court. Why are they blackmailing me?
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