7th August, 2013
The Office of the Senate President has ordered a detailed investigation into the remote and immediate reasons that led to the alleged threat to the life of Oba Gbolahan Akanbi Timson, The Jagunmolu of Somolu-Bariga, Lagos State.
A letter from the office of Senate President with reference number NASS/SP/SA/PA/COMPT/03/1/110, dated 22, July 2013 and signed by Special Assistant to the Senate President on Public Affairs, Mr. Victor Abang, directed the Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs to look into the matter.
Oba Jagunmolu had in a letter addressed to the Senate President, with the caption: “A desperate call to stop a serial killer and his misuse of the Nigeria Police Force to perpetrate Criminal activities”, accused a section of the Nigeria Police Force of turning themselves into willing tools in the hands of his detractors to carry out series of failed attempts on his life in the past years. He cited various examples including a 1999 attempt on his life by an Islamic fundamentalist group, Hiwatudeen movement, led by the late Sheik Nosirudeen Adejumo during which several lives were lost and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed. Sixty-two members of the murderous group were rounded up by the police and arraigned before Chief Magistrate Sybil Nwaka (now a judge of the Lagos High Court).
He further alleged that in year 2004, policemen from Zone II Onikan came to arrest him on a phantom allegation of issuing a dud cheque, gun-running and trans-border arms shipment. His palace was thoroughly searched and nothing was found. At the end police investigation, he was asked to go as nothing was found on him.
He also alleged that the police sponsored attack persisted and at a point, armed police from Bariga Police Station launched armed attack on his palace, killing two men. All efforts to get justice for the bereaved family were allegedly thwarted by the police at SCID, Panti, Lagos.
Police officers led by the Divisional Police Officer of Bariga Police Station, Supol Fashesan, stormed his palace early one morning and on the pretext of looking for some suspects, fired several bullets from AK-47 assault rifle indiscriminately into his compound, damaging his roof top and several other places.
The police team then moved into his prayer room looking for him and firing several shots into the room. The intervention of the Inspector-General of Police on the issue led to the removal of Fashesan as the DPO of the area.
Also in 2009, a combined team of mobile and regular policemen of the Lagos State Task Force, led by Mr. Bayo Suleiman, stormed his palace and forcefully bundled him away to Alausa.
He was later arraigned before Chief Magistrate Tajudeen Elias on a trumped up charge.
A Federal High Court intervened in the matter, nullified the charges, revoked the obnoxious law under which he was arraigned and awarded damages against the Lagos State Government in the sum of N3million for illegal detention and prosecution.
Meanwhile, Oba Jagunmolu has described as “being economical with the truth”, the recent Press statement by Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Mr. Ademorin Kuye, that there is no record of the Jagunmolu stool with the state government.
He wondered why the Commissioner deliberately decided to mis-inform the public when the state government, the executive Governor of Lagos State and the office of the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs were parties to a suit before Justice Shitta-Bay of the Lagos High Court which he (Oba Timson) won at the lower court and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of Justice Shitta-Bay.
The appeal court also ordered the state government to install him forthwith, but the state government has ignored the order.
Justice Kazeem Alogba of the Lagos High Court in 2010, also ordered the State Government, the Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs to install him as next Jagunmolu while ruling on an order of Mendamus.
The State Government has equally ignored the order.
He called on the State Government to address the issue of continued disobedience of court orders on the Jagunmolu stool.