…..Alleges Fraudulent Interpretation of Courts’ Judgement
ELEMO IGOBA FAMILY WARNS OVER FALSE CLAIM OF OWNERSHIP OF THEIR LAND BY SUSPECTED LAND RACKETEERS
It has come to the notice of Elemo Igoba Family of Igoba, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, that some individuals, led by Oba Adinlewa Adeniyi (The Obalogun of Igoba), have been sponsoring radio broadcasts and other medium of public announcements, making totally false and fraudulent claims that a recent judgment of the Court of Appeal has now declared them the owners of a large expanse of land measuring over 494.415 Hectares of land in Igoba, which several courts had previously adjudged as Elemo Igoba Family land.
The Elemo Igoba Family believes that the object of these is to lure the unsuspecting members of the public into entering fraudulent land deals with the sponsors of such falsehood. For the avoidance of doubt, there are at least five judgments of the Ondo State High Court and the Court of Appeal affirming that the Elemo Igoba Family owns the said land, and no Court has ever delivered any judgment to the contrary.
The series of court judgments affirming the ownership of the land by Elemo Igoba Family include the following:
- The judgment of the Ondo State High Court in Suit AK/289/2012: Hon. A.W Olokunboro & Anor (For themselves and on behalf of the Elemo of Igoba Chieftaincy Family) Versus Oba S. Ojo Jayeoba, delivered by
1Hon. Justice O.A Adegbehingbe (now Justice of the Court of Appeal)
on 17th February, 2014; - The Consent Judgment of the Ondo State High Court in Suit No.
AK/384/2012: Chief Akin William Olokunboro & 4 Ors (For
themselves and on behalf of members of Elemo Family of Igoba,
Akure North Local Government Area) versus Osi Community
(represented by Chief Falowo and Chief Famugbode Ilesanmi as the
2nd and 3rd Defendants in the case), delivered by Hon. Justice
Olasehinde Kumuyi (then Chief Judge of Ondo State) on 3rd March,
2014, wherein Osi Community unequivocally admitted that they are
customary tenants of Elemo Igoba Family on the same land. - The final Judgment of the Ondo State High Court in the same Suit No.
AK/384/2012, delivered by the same Hon. Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi
on 1st November, 2016, wherein the Court held that since the land had
not been partitioned and still remained the joint property of Elemo
Igoba Family, Mrs. Moji Adelana, as a member of the Family, could not
be stopped from entering the land or declared a trespasser thereon.
The High Court therefore refused to set aside the layout she carried
out on part of the land in her personal name, consequent upon which
the Elemo Igoba Family appealed to the Court of Appeal.
- The judgment of the Court of Appeal in Appeal Number CA/AK/46/2017: Chief Akin William Olokunboro & 3 others versus Aderemi Adelana & Another, delivered on 25/6/2021, wherein the Court of Appeal held that although Mrs. Moji Adelana could not be declared a trespasser to the land, she had no right to carry out the
layout of any part of the land in her personal name or claim personal
title over any portion of it, being the joint Elemo Family property which
had not been partitioned or shared. - The judgment of the Ondo State High Court in Suit AK/224/2014:
Chief Akin William Olokunboro & Another (For themselves and on
behalf of Elemo Family of Igoba) versus Wesco Akinwale & 9 Others,
delivered on 24th March, 2016 by Hon. Justice A.O Odusola (now the
Chief Judge of Ondo State).
The above judgments are public documents which members of the public can easily access and obtain from the Courts, and that is why details of each of the cases or judgments have been meticulously stated.
The recent judgment of the Court of Appeal being misrepresented by
Obalogun of Igoba and his cohorts stemmed from a fresh Suit No.
AK/239/2018 which the Elemo Igoba instituted against Obalogun of
Igoba and 3 other persons accused of trespass to the land. Hon Justice
W.A Akintoroye (the immediate past Chief Judge of Ondo State) delivered
judgment in favour of the Elemo Igoba Family in the case on 24th December, 2020, declaring, amongst other things, that Oba Adinlewa Adeniyi and the other Defendants were trespassers.
That was the judgment Oba Adeniyi and his cronies appealed to the Court
of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/AK/18/2021, leading to the recent Court of Appeal judgment delivered on 25th April, 2025, which they are now fraudulently misrepresenting to the public.
In the judgment, the Court of Appeal held that since Obalogun of Igoba and the other Appellants established at the lower Court that they were all related to or derived their title(s) from the same Mrs. Moji Adelana, then they were privies to her. The Court therefore held further that the previous High Court Judgment in Suit No. AK/384/2012 leading to the previous Court of Appeal Judgment in Appeal Number CA/AK/46/2017 between Elemo Igoba Family and the same Mrs. Moji Adelana is/are binding on the parties, including Obalogun and the other Appellants. Consequently, the Court held that it was wrong for Elemo Igoba Family to even institute a fresh Suit against them over the same land, because the dispute was res judicata.
Res Judicata, in legal parlance, simply means that the subject-matter or issues in a case had already been decided by the Court in an earlier case between the same parties and/or their privies (their agents or those who derived titles from them), thereby making it unnecessary or improper to approach the court again to decide the same issues between the same
parties or their privies. The doctrine aims to prevent repetitious litigations or court cases.
Now, to understand the false and fraudulent claims being spread by Oba
Adinlewa Adeniyi and his cronies through public announcements that the Court had declared them the owners of the land, there is need to revisit what the High Court and the Court of Appeal decided in the cases involving Moji Adelana, from whom Obalogun and other persons claimed
to have derived their title(s).
As earlier stated, in Suit No. AK/384/2012, Hon. Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi held that since the land had not been partitioned and still remained the joint property of Elemo Igoba Family, Mrs. Moji Adelana, as
a member of the Family, could not be stopped from entering the land and
his lordship thereupon refused to nullify or set aside the layout she carried out on the land in her personal name.
The Court of Appeal however disagreed (in part) with the Judgment of Hon. Justice Kumuyi when the case went on appeal. In Appeal No. CA/AK/46/2017, the Court of Appeal held that although Mrs. Moji Adelana was a member of Elemo Igoba Family and could not be declared a trespasser on the land, she had no right to layout any part of the Family land in her personal name or claim personal title to any portion of the land, being the joint Elemo Family property which had not been
partitioned or shared.
Therefore, when the Court of Appeal, on 25th April, 2025, upheld the appeal of Oba Adinlwela Adeniyi of Igoba and the other Appellants on the ground that it was improper for the Elemo Igoba Family to institute a fresh court case against them, since they claimed to have derived their titles from Mrs. Moji Adelana and the previous Judgments against Moji
Adelana would equally bind them, it simply means that the previous Judgment of the same Court of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/AK/46/2017 that the land remained the joint property of Elemo Igoba Family and that it was unlawful for Mrs. Moji Adelana, as an individual member of the Family, to layout any part of the land or claim title to any portion thereof in her personal name, is binding on Oba Adinlewa Adeniyi and his cohorts.
If Moji Adelana could not claim personal title to any portion of the joint Elemo Igoba Family land, as rightly held by the Court of Appeal in the previous Appeal No. CA/AK/46/2017, she definitely could not have passed any valid title to Oba Adinlewa Adeniyi and others who claimed to have derived their title(s) from her. That is the true meaning of the recent Judgment of the Court of Appeal which certain individuals, including those whose main means of livelihood is fraudulently appropriating and selling other peoples lands, are now deliberately misrepresenting to the public.
Having painstakingly presented the above verifiable and impeccable facts to the public on the consistent court judgments affirming Elemo Igoba Family as the owners of the 494.415 Hectares known as Elemo Igoba Family land, which has a Perimeter Survey and Layout in the name of the Family duly approved by the Ondo State Government, the Elemo Igoba Family wishes to state that any member of the public who deals with any land racketeer and fraudsters in respect of the land, does so at his own peril.
The Elemo Igoba Family also warns those who are spreading the shocking, false and fraudulent claims that the Court of Appeal has now declared them the owners of the land to immediately desist from doing so or face the full wrath of the law.
E-SIGN
Femi Emmanuel Emodamori
(Solicitor to Elemo Igoba Family)
4th June, 2025
