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Yusuf Family Cries Out Over Invasion Of Property By Security Agents, Medical Doctor …Says Justice Must Never Be For Sale

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5 months ago

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An Agege, Lagos-based family has cried out over alleged taken over of their property located in Dopemu area of the state by some security agents and a medical doctor.
Addressing the media on the issue on Tuesday, Comrade (Evangelist) Olatunde Owoeye-wise, leader of The Passion for Justice Initiative (PJI), a civil society organisation committed to defending the oppressed and speaking truth to power, strongly condemned the alleged “ongoing intimidation, harassment, and calculated persecution of the Yusuf family by agents of the Nigeria Police Force, the Ministry of Justice, and one Dr. Saliu Niran Abdulwaheed, a medical doctor and the founder of Haliman Hospital who also serves as a consultant at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).”
Owoeye-wise recalled that in 2022, PJI received a formal appeal from Mrs. Yusuf Lateefah and Mrs. Yusuf Salimot, seeking the intervention of their organisation in a long-standing family property dispute.
“They reported that their elder brother, Mr. Aruna Adio Yusuf (popularly known as “Ilerika”), a grassroots politician in Agege, had held onto their late father’s property at 67 Surulere Street, Dopemu, Agege for over 30 years without equitable distribution or transparency.
“Upon intervention by our organization and after due process, the said property was lawfully reclaimed and peacefully sold with the unanimous consent of the five rightful beneficiaries: Alhaji Yusuf Ajani, Mr. Mutiu Yusuf, Mrs. Yusuf Lateefah, Mrs. Yusuf Salimot, and the late Alhaja Monsurat Arogundade. The proceeds of the sale were equitably shared among all beneficiaries without dispute or objection.
“However, unknown to the other siblings, Mr. Mutiu Yusuf secretly and fraudulently collected a large sum of money from Dr. Saliu Niran Abdulwaheed, who now falsely claims to have “bought” the said property for ?16 million. Despite repeated denials by the family and their demand for evidence of such a transaction, Dr. Saliu has failed to produce any signed legal document affirming the sale of the property to him by the entire family,” he said.
The activist stated that while the family and the legitimate buyer, “Mr. Salako, were proceeding with lawful development of the property, Dr. Saliu and his cohorts invaded the land shortly after the buyer demolished the old structure.
“With the aid of unidentified armed soldiers and suspected hoodlums, they forcibly took possession of the site. In the process, they vandalized the CCTV cameras installed by the buyer, carted away bags of cement, and made away with a generator on site. This brazen act of lawlessness has further worsened the trauma of the Yusuf family and violated the rights of a lawful property owner under Nigeria’s laws.”
Owoeye-wise stressed that in what appeared to be “a brazen abuse of influence and manipulation of state apparatus, Dr. Saliu Niran wrote a fictitious petition to the Area G Police Command in Agege, resulting in the arbitrary arrest and detention of the family members. They were held for over a week before being released on bail.”
Not relenting, he said, Dr. Saliu again influenced another petition, this time, to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, which led to the “forceful arrest of the family head, Alhaji Ajani Yusuf, in broad daylight. He and other family members were unjustly detained for two weeks and only released after meeting a harsh bail condition of ?500,000 per person.”
“Shamefully, the Nigeria Police and Dr. Saliu conspired to arraign the entire family at the Yaba Magistrate Court on trumped-up charges of fraud and obtaining by trick. While that matter was still pending in court, Dr. Saliu proceeded again to file the same case at the Federal High Court, Ikeja, amounting to clear abuse of the judicial process and double jeopardy.
“In a final betrayal of justice, the family approached the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Ministry of Justice with evidence of their innocence and court documents. After initial indications of intervention, the DPP mysteriously withdrew its support and failed to appear in court raising serious concerns of corruption, bias, and external influence on the part of state prosecutors.
“The Passion for Justice Initiative (PJI) considers the actions of Dr. Saliu, the Nigeria Police, and complicit officers at the Ministry of Justice as a blatant assault on the rule of law, abuse of power, and weaponisation of the criminal justice system against innocent citizens simply because they lack economic and social power,” he said.
The group then demanded the immediate “withdrawal of all frivolous charges against the Yusuf family at both the Magistrate and Federal High Courts.
“An independent investigation by the Police Service Commission into the misconduct and human rights violations perpetrated by officers at Area G and FCID Alagbon.
“A public inquiry into the role of the Ministry of Justice and its failure to uphold its constitutional duty of fair prosecution.
“Sanctions against Dr. Saliu, if found culpable, for abuse of process and fraudulent manipulation of law enforcement agencies, and compensation and public apology to the Yusuf family for the trauma, unlawful detention, and emotional distress suffered.”
PJI then reminded “the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian public that justice must never be for sale. The legal system must not be a tool in the hands of the wealthy and well-connected to oppress the poor or rewrite the truth for selfish gain.
“The Passion for Justice Initiative stands firm in its mission to protect the voiceless and ensure that no citizen, regardless of class or status, is denied justice.”
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