The beneficiaries of the late Ajayi Bello’s the estate have appeal to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun; and the Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Chairman Abiodun Ejigbadero to save them from hoodlums at Ile-Epo Oja Market Lagos.

Olusola Odetola, Sherifat Soyoye, and Kehinde Shehu alleged that the hoodlums had been making violent attempts to reclaim shops at the market despite a court judgment awarding their ownership to them. They urged the authorities to intervene urgently, warning that the market is “in turmoil and in danger” due to repeated violent invasions.

They expressed confidence that Sanwo-Olu, Egbetokun, and Ejigbadero would act to prevent further bloodshed and restore peace to the market. In their suit before Justice Y.G. Oshoala of a Lagos High Court, the claimants secured a judgment granting them perpetual injunction over the property.

The judgment, delivered on December 18, 2023, and enforced on May 27, 2024, affirmed their statutory right of occupancy over the disputed land measuring 1.310 hectares along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Justice Oshoala held that the defendants, David Famuyiwa, Akinwumi Odeyemi, and Olugbenga Sogbamu, sued on behalf of Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA and Alimosho Local Government had no legal right to the land and unlawfully trespassed on it. The court issued a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further interference.

Despite the subsisting judgment, the beneficiaries alleged that hoodlums armed with cutlasses, knives, and guns have repeatedly stormed the market, attacking traders, employees, and tenants. They said some of the incidents were captured on video.