Two prominent families of Origanrigan II, Lekki LCDA, Ibeju/Lekki, and Leadway Assurance Company Limited are in a legal tussle over ownership of a 22-hectare parcel of land in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

The dispute, currently before the Lagos State High Court sitting in Epe, involves the Kazeem and Adeoye families, who claim to be the original customary owners of the land, and Leadway Assurance, which asserts a competing claim.

The two land-owning families described Leadway Assurance Company Limited’s ownership acts over the 22-hectare land as unlawful trespass.

The families seek declarations affirming their customary ownership and statutory rights over the approximately 22.314 hectares of land known as Origanrigan II, an order of ownership in their favour, and perpetual injunctions restraining Leadway Assurance and its agents from claiming or interfering with their land.

In their Statement of Claim filed in July 2025, the families, represented by Alhaji Akeem Baderu (a.k.a Pressy), Wasiu Abiodun Kazeem, Adetayo Adeoye and Najimu Adeoye, assert that the land was excised by the Lagos State government on September 1, 1994, as documented in the Lagos State Gazette No. 25 Vol. 27 of 1994.

They claimed ownership by inheritance according to Yoruba customary law and hold that they are entitled to statutory rights of occupancy under the Land Use Act.

The families denied any sale or dealings with Leadway Assurance and challenged the company’s alleged root of title, which they said traces back to retired Justice George Oguntade who purportedly bought land from four families in Origanrigan II, including the Kazeem and Adeoye families. Justice Oguntade is alleged to have sold the land to the late Yomi Oluwude of IGI.

The claimants, however, contended that much of the land allegedly sold by Justice Oguntade was subsequently acquired by the Lagos State government and allocated to a neighbouring community, Lekuru, and that the defendant’s claim to the land within the excision is unfounded.

The claimants further alleged that Leadway Assurance, through unknown agents, recently demolished structures on land sold by the families to third parties, prompting a police investigation.

They also accused the defendant of attempting to coerce the Lagos State Land Grabbers Office to compel the families to release the land, which the claimants are now opposing in court.

In response, Leadway Assurance, through its counsel Babatunde Kasunmu of Prof. A. B. Kasunmu Chambers, denied all allegations.

The company stated that it has no knowledge of the claimants or any dealings with the Kazeem and Adeoye families.

It denied tracing its title through Justice Oguntade or any transactions involving the families. The defendant also refuted claims of demolishing structures or authorising agents to act on its behalf in the land dispute.

Leadway Assurance described the claims made by the families as frivolous and vexatious and urged the court to dismiss the suit.

The matter remains pending before the High Court of Lagos State, Epe Judicial Division.(The Guardian)

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