By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Former Commissioner for Information, Sports, Culture and Social Development in Ekiti State, Sir Kayode Otitoju, has relived his ordeal in the hands of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) officials and Ministry of the Environment in his Lekki, Lagos Island horticultural garden.
Otitoju said he was manhandled and thrown into a van by policemen, who accompanied the officials while seeking clarification over the invasion.
Otitoju, All Progressives Congress (APC) and fellow of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (FCILT), accused a LAWMA Director of Monitoring & Compliance, Mr. Jimmy Odukoya, of seizing his legally allocated property on Lekki Farms Avenue, Lekki Phase 1.
Otitoju alleged he was unlawfully detained in a LAWMA van on May 9 and denied access to a property he has since 2001 been paying rent.
He said trouble began on May 8 when some LAWMA officials stormed the garden, cut off the perimeter chain, and erected a LAWMA signpost indicating a takeover.
A “sealed” sticker signed by LAWMA’s Managing Director, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, was affixed on the property, stating dates from July 9, 2025 to May 8, 2025, an anomaly Otitoju believes signals premeditation.
The next morning (May 9), upon noticing the signpost about 8:15 am, Otitoju said he pasted the 2025 land use charge bill and receipt on the gate as evidence of his ownership and tax compliance.
About 10:15 a.m., Otitoju said he received a call from his security personnel reporting that Odukoya, accompanied by policemen and LAWMA officials had entered the property, removed the land use charge receipt and signage and ordered his team to “ransack ” the premises.
They demolished a stainless steel bridge spanning an 18-metre-wide drainage canal, a structure Otitoju said he built in 2018 with over N5 million.
The former commissioner said when he arrived on the scene, Odukoya instructed the police and officials to take him out of the property.
His words: “When I asked him why, he replied that he had warned me never to enter ‘my own land’. He ordered policemen to throw me into their bus, instructing them to guard me like a criminal.
“I was kept inside the bus until the Permanent Secretary in the Office of Environmental Services of Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Dr. Gaji Tajudeen, arrived with some private company officials.
‘’After issuing instructions, he left with his entourage. At that point, I expected Odukoya to release me from the bus, but instead, he directed the driver to take me to another site on Freedom Way, Lekki.
‘‘My driver was following in my Mercedez Benz GL 450 SUV.
But Dr Gbadegesin disagreed with Sir Otitoju.
He said the location is a designated drainage setback in Lekki, not a private property.
“He has been asked to vacate the place. I believe he only had a temporary permit to use the area as a garden. The structures he erected were illegal and have been demolished. You cannot build such structures on a drainage setback,” Gbadegesin said.
He added that the state is carrying out a statewide exercise to remove structures obstructing drainage channels to mitigate flooding.
“It is incorrect to say the land belongs to him. It is a drainage setback, and beyond gardening, there were reports of activities like animal slaughter, meat sales, barbecue, and beer sales. Waste was being dumped into the drainage, and this poses a health risk, including the potential for a cholera outbreak.’’
In his reaction, Gaji Tajudeen, said he was not aware of the incident. ‘’I was not in the country last week so, couldn’t have been in Lekki at the same time,’’ Tajudeen said. Otitoju was a usurper, he added. According to him, he should bring his allocation paper.
Otitoju adds: “Throughout the ordeal, I remained in the bus. Odukoya ensured the permanent secretary never saw me. When their inspection ended about 11:45 a.m., I was driven back to the Lekki Farm, where I was initially ‘detained . For nearly two hours, I was held without water or ventilation, sandwiched between two policemen for no reason.”
Otitoju said he was eventually returned to the original farm location, still detained in the van, after the inspection ended about 11:45 a.m.”
He alleged of a plot of land grab in collaboration with a private waste recycling firm, Alliance seeking to install machinery on the property under a project name “Waste Free Lekki.”
Backing his ownership claim, Otitoju said the land was officially allocated to him by the Lagos State Governor’s Office Lands Bureau on August 9, 2001, for horticultural use.
The allocation letter clearly designates the land as a “Road Setback Along Maroko–Epe Expressway, Lekki Scheme I, Eti-Osa Local Government.”
He cited a 2020 letter of appreciation from the Ministry of Finance, signed by then Commissioner Dr. Rabiu Olowo, commending him for his prompt payment of land use charges.
To resolve the conflict, Otitoju said he reached out to Gbadegesin on April 9 via WhatsApp message , sharing full documentation of his land title, payment receipts, and a plea to remove the illegal sticker.
“I explained everything in detail after our phone conversation on April 7, but Gbadegeshin didn’t reply,” he said.
Otitoju also questioned the legitimacy of the project signpost erected on his property.
He pointed out that the address listed—“Foreshore Point, along Foreshore Road, off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1”—does not correspond with his Lekki Farms Avenue site, suggesting a deliberate attempt to mislead or misappropriate land.
Definitely, LAWMA and I will have our days in court.
Photos and records of the now-destroyed bridge and looted walkways have been documented as further evidence of vandalism, he added.
Otitoju questioned why a law-abiding citizen, who has spent years maintaining a valuable horticultural property and paying taxes, should be subjected to what he described as “barbaric treatment.” “Why should I be punished by land grabbers under the cover of state officials?” he asked.
Otitoju called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State House of Assembly, and anti-corruption agencies toi investigate the matter.
But Dr Gbadegesin disagreed with Sir Otitoju.
He said that the contested location is a designated drainage setback in Lekki, not a private property.
“He has been asked to vacate the place. I believe he only had a temporary permit to use the area as a garden. The structures he erected were illegal and have been demolished. You cannot build such structures on a drainage setback,” Gbadegesin said.
He added that the Lagos State government is currently carrying out an ongoing statewide exercise to remove structures obstructing drainage channels in order to mitigate flooding.
“It is incorrect to say the land belongs to him. It is a drainage setback, and beyond gardening, there were reports of activities like animal slaughtering, meat sales, barbecuing, and beer sales. Waste was being dumped directly into the drainage, which is in a terrible state and poses a public health risk, including the potential for a cholera outbreak.I
In his reaction, Gaji Tajudeen said he was not aware of the incident.
‘’I was not in the country last week and so couldn’t have been in Lekki at the same time.’’
But he said Otitoju was a usurper. According to him, he should bring his allocation paper.
Demolition in Lagos has been ongoing for several months, Gbadegeshin added.