Residents of Isheri-Idimu and other communities In Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State have called for the removal of the monarch of Isheri-Olofin town, Oba Wahab Balogun saying both the title and the kingdom lack legal and customary basis to exist.
In a petition to the state government written on their behalf by their leader, Alhaji Shamsideen Alade Adebimpe issued in Lagos on Thursday, the residents of the various communities accused the monarch of manipulating his way to the throne through forgery with a view grab land from rightful indigenous owners in the area.
Specifically, Adebimpe who claimed to be a stakeholder accused Oba Balogun of engaging in what he termed ‘illegal succession, fraudulent royalty and obtaining court judgment in a fraudulent manner.’
According to him, the title of Isheri-Olofin as an entity was not an integral part of the Awori Central Area of Alimosho in the colonial survey but was allegedly concocted by the Oba with a view to create a non-existing territory for himself, saying a subsisting court order has prevented him from parading himself in such manner.
To buttress the position of the people of the area whom he stated have had to bear the brunt of Oba Balogun’s tyranny, Adebimpe stated that the monarch and his agents and proxies had in the past altered sections colonial records to pave the way for his emergence as a traditional ruler of a non-existing community.
Adebimpe stated that pages 47 and 48 of the file No. 29939 and authentic file No. G.58, Pages 3 and 4 indicates that Isheri-Idimu and not Isheri-Olofin was one of the 20 villages paying rents to the Baale of Idimu who incidentally was his grandfather, Lawani Balogun.
“There is no place for Isheri-Olofin as recorded by relevant colonial documents but what we have is Isheri-Idimu which Oba Balogun and his agents and proxies have caused to alter in archival documents.” Adebimpe wrote.
He went ahead to accuse the monarch of using the forged document to further mislead a court of competent jurisdiction to fraudulently obtained a judgment from a state High Court in Lagos, a situation that the community is seeking a judicial review.
Adebimpe stated the need to set aside the judgment and illegal succession in view of the fact that Balogun and his agents altered a falsely tagged Intelligence Report Less Central Awori which is 2 per cent per his identity and 98 per cent altered version of file G.58 with missing 24 pages and 18 alterations of Isheri-Idimu to Isheri-Olofin.
The residents argued that the position of the monarch has been nullified by an order of a Lagos State High Court presided over by Justice M.A.O Abiru who told him not to parade himself as an oba.
“During the course of the trial, Oba Balogun told the open court that he has stopped parading himself as a traditional ruler in keeping with the order of the court,” saying since that had been done the state government ought to have curbed his excesses.
On the way forward, the residents urged the state government to constitute a judicial panel of enquiry to ascertain the correct position or status of the monarch in the community, saying he (Adebimpe) has enough evidence to link the true ownership of the land to Olorunfunmi family.
To him, this was the only to maintain peace in the area, saying residents of the community have been growing impatience over seeming non-challant disposition of the state government whom he accused of not carrying out due diligence before crowning Balogun.
