From ‘Romance’ To Courtroom Drama: Lagos Society Lady Gail Fajembola Slams N50m Rights Suit Against Tunde Ayeni, Police Over Banana Island Luxury Apartment Dispute

A Lagos High Court has fixed November 13, 2025, for the hearing of a N50 million fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Lagos-based society woman and energy entrepreneur, Ms. Gail Fajembola, against the Nigeria Police Force and prominent businessman, Mr. Tunde Ayeni, over what she describes as a campaign of harassment and intimidation linked to a soured personal relationship and the possession of a luxury apartment in Banana Island.

Presiding judge Justice Ipaye Nwachukwu of the Lagos State High Court, Tapa division, set the date after preliminary filings were completed in the suit, which has quickly gained traction in legal and society circles due to the high-profile names, emotional backstory, and allegations of abuse of police authority to settle private disputes.

Fajembola’s legal action with suit No : LD/19053MFHR/2025   lists six respondents:

1. The Inspector General of Police
2. The Assistant Inspector General of Police (Zone 2)
3. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police
4. One Ogbonna Nweke
5. Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Ltd
6. Mr. Tunde Ayeni, a former Chairman of the defunct Skye Bank Plc and a well-known figure in Nigerian corporate and political circles

Through her legal team, Fajembola is asking the court to declare that the Nigeria Police and the other respondents have no legal authority to interfere in a matter she describes as a purely civil dispute concerning possession of Flat K9-2, Ocean Parade Towers, Banana Island, Ikoyi.

In her affidavit, she alleges that following the breakdown of a personal relationship with Mr. Ayeni — with whom she shared close ties — a dispute arose over the luxury apartment which she says he had allowed her to use since 2016. She claims to have spent $45,792 of her own money furnishing the residence, where she lived until relocating to the United Kingdom in 2019.

After relocating, she continued to manage the property, initially operating it as a short-let Airbnb, and later leasing it to a corporate tenant — Expand Global Industries Ltd — for one year in 2022. Fajembola insists that these arrangements were made with the verbal knowledge and tacit approval of Ayeni at the time.

However, tensions began to rise after the relationship deteriorated. Fajembola claims that Ayeni and the 5th respondent, Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Ltd, began demanding the eviction of the tenant and the handover of the apartment. Rather than follow legal eviction processes, she alleges, they turned to the police, who began issuing summons, applying pressure, and engaging in actions that she says amount to threats, harassment, and abuse of police authority.

In her originating motion, Fajembola is seeking:

• A declaration that the police and other respondents acted outside the bounds of the law by attempting to involve themselves in a private civil property matter;
• An order of perpetual injunction restraining them from further harassment or interference with her rights;
• A declaration that their actions violate her fundamental rights to personal liberty, dignity, and freedom of movement, as guaranteed under Sections 35, 36, 41, and 46 of the 1999 Constitution;
• And N50 million in damages for emotional trauma, reputational harm, and unlawful interference with her person.

Fajembola insists in her affidavit that she never claimed ownership of the apartment, nor did she attempt to sell it. She refutes earlier media reports that suggested otherwise, calling them false and malicious.

“I wish to state categorically that I have never been arrested or detained by the police, and at no point did I claim ownership of the property or purport to sell it. Those reports are untrue and were clearly meant to smear my name,” she declared in the court documents.

She further explained that in April 2025, she formally handed over the apartment to Ayeni and his real estate firm, leaving behind all household furnishings and appliances she had installed. Despite this, she says the harassment and pressure have not ceased, and that negative media coverage and police intimidation have made it unsafe for her to return to Nigeria.

“The ongoing pressure from the respondents, including unwarranted police involvement and damaging media narratives, has made it unsafe for me to visit Lagos and has caused me considerable emotional and psychological distress,” she wrote.

But in a counter move, the 5th respondent, Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Ltd, through their legal counsel at Legal Resources Alliance, petitioned the Inspector General of Police on June 13, 2025, alleging that Ms. Fajembola had fraudulently converted the apartment and leased it without consent.

The petition states that Ms. Fajembola was initially permitted to occupy the property on humanitarian grounds, after she claimed to be homeless. They now allege she proceeded to commercialise the apartment, using her company, GIF Energy Resources Ltd, to lease it out and earn over N100 million in rental income over several years — all without authorisation from the property’s true owner.

“It is shocking that someone who was granted access purely out of compassion would proceed to commercialise that access and exploit the property for personal enrichment,” the petition reads.

The Inspector General’s Office formally acknowledged the petition on June 17, 2025, though no criminal charges have yet been filed.

This is not the first time Mr. Ayeni has been involved in public controversy. Earlier in 2025, he filed a suit at the Customary Court in Dawaki, Abuja, against an Abuja-based lawyer, Adaobi Alagwu, in a paternity and marital status dispute, asking the court to declare that he was not the father of her child and that no valid customary marriage existed. The court eventually declined jurisdiction, ruling that the matter lacked the legal foundation required for adjudication.

As this latest case proceeds to hearing in November, legal watchers, civil rights advocates, and social commentators will be keenly observing whether the court will uphold Fajembola’s claim that state policing powers have been misused to settle personal scores, or whether Ayeni and the estate firm can substantiate their counter-claims of fraudulent conversion and unauthorised commercial use of the luxury apartment.

Either way, what began as a personal relationship has now spiraled into a high-stakes legal drama — with implications that stretch far beyond Banana Island.