Ilaje Indigenes Storm Lagos Assembly Over Otumara Demolition, Land Grabbing
…Accuses Oloto, Oloworo, Oki As Perpetrators
THECONSCIENCE TV reports that scores of angry Ilaje indigenes under the aegis of Egbe Omo Ilaje Worldwide on Tuesday besieged the Lagos State House of Assembly, protesting what they described as targeted demolitions and land grabbing across their communities.
Defying a heavy downpour, the demonstrators accused prominent monarchs, including Oba Bashiru Abisoye Odesanya, the Oloto of Otto, and the Oloworo of Oworonshoki, of orchestrating the assaults, particularly in Otumara, Bariga, Ijora and Oworonshoki.
In a petition to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, signed by the group’s President-General, Prince Iwamitigha R. Irowainu, and sighted by THECONSCIENCE NG, the Ilajes demanded recognition as bona fide Lagos indigenes, immediate prosecution of those behind the Otumara demolition, compensation for victims, and stronger security for Ilaje communities.
The petition alleged that despite pending court cases and assurances from the Governor’s office, Otumara was demolished under the orders of Oba Odesanya and former Lagos State Building Control Agency General Manager, Gbolahan Oki.
It stressed that Otumara, founded in the 1920s by the late Pa Emmanuel Otofen Arowojolu, remains an autonomous community with no historical ties of allegiance to the Oloto ruling house.
The protesters vowed to resist what they called a deliberate attempt to dispossess Ilaje people, warning that further demolitions would meet fierce opposition.
According to the petition, the forced demolition of Otumara in February 2025 came after weeks of threats by state officials and thugs. Residents said that on 11 February, former LASBCA chief Oki stormed the community with armed police and gave a three-day eviction notice without legal backing. The Ilaje community immediately marched to Alausa, where Governor Sanwo-Olu’s office denied knowledge of any demolition plan.
Barely a week later, on 18 February, the protesters said, officials returned, led by Dr Olajide Abiodun, Special Adviser on e-GIS, Physical Planning and Urban Development, in company of Oki, police and hired thugs.
They allegedly warned residents that demolition was inevitable unless they sought the intervention of Oba Odesanya. Days later, bulldozers rolled in between March 7th and 10th flattening homes and displacing families in violation of a subsisting court case with a next hearing for 7th May, 2025.
In fact, the case was a subject of litigation in a SUIT NO LD/4292/LMN/17 and SUIT NO 25/26/2017 before HON. JUSTICE SULE – AMSAT OF HIGH COURT 2 SABO YABA LAGOS instituted by the Oloto Ruling House against BAALE FESTUS O. AROWOJOLU AND AROWOJOLU FAMILY of Otumara Community and the next adjournment date for trial Was 7th May, 2025
According to the petition, the Ilajes trace their ancestry to princes and princesses from Ile-Ife, descendants of Obamakin Osangangan, the second Ooni of Ife. Migrating to present-day Ondo State in earlier centuries, waves of Ilaje fishermen later moved into Lagos between the 17th and 18th centuries, settling along creeks and coastal communities from Epe to Badagry.
Their settlements in places such as Epe, Ikorodu, Makoko, Ajegunle, Bariga, Ijora, Oworonshoki and Otumara remain visible today, with fishing as their dominant trade.
The petition insists that the Ilaje are not squatters but indigenes by settlement, having established communities long before Lagos’ urban expansion.
Otumara itself was founded in the early 1920s by Pa Emmanuel Arowojolu, a fisherman, hunter and carpenter who cleared the Igbo Aiwo forest ( forbidden forest) to create a thriving riverside community. His descendants, the Arowojolu family, have led the settlement for generations, independent of the Oloto ruling house. Unlike tenant communities that pay tribute (Isakole), Otumara has never owed allegiance to the Oloto monarchy.
The Ilaje leaders argue that the Oloto chieftaincy is now exploiting state structures to seize Otumara land, despite its distinct lineage and history. They note that even the Olotos themselves migrated from Iseyin in Oyo State into Lagos, just like the Ilaje, and therefore have no greater claim to the land.
The petition directly named Oba Odesanya, Oki, Dr Abiodun, Mr Toyin Williams Tomori, Mr Sodiq Aromire and Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority GM, Animasahun Oladimeji, as actors in what it called a conspiracy to dispossess Ilaje communities.
Beyond Otumara, the group warned of similar threats in other Ilaje-dominated settlements across Lagos, including Makoko, Iwaya, Ajah-Ilaje and Ibeshe. They accused the state of pursuing urban renewal by displacement, targeting poor fishing communities to make way for private developers.
“This is not just about Otumara,” one protester told reporters. “It is about the survival of Ilaje identity in Lagos. If they take Otumara today, they will move to Bariga, Makoko, Ajah and everywhere else we live.”
Two members of the Assembly who came out to address the protesters urged them to follow the due process and remain abiding as their grievances would be duly addressed by government.
They promised to invite the leadership of the protest for a stakeholders meeting soon for a peaceful resolution.
