The courtroom at the Lagos State High Court, Tafawa Balewa Square, turned tense on Monday when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Tayo Oyetibo, accused the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), of abusing court process in the ongoing trial of businessman Alex Ochonogor and two lawyers, Ademola Owolabi and Adebayo Akeju, over alleged forgery and property demolition in Lekki.
Oyetibo, counsel to Ochonogor, fired the accusation after the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Babajide Martins, told Justice Sherifat Sonaike that the trial could not continue because the Attorney-General had ordered a fresh police investigation into the case.
This is oppression. You cannot file a charge and then ask for a reinvestigation. That’s an abuse of court process,” Oyetibo declared, accusing the state of playing politics with justice.
The three defendants, who have pleaded not guilty to the charges, were earlier granted bail.
But Monday’s session took a dramatic turn when the prosecution sought a months-long adjournment to allow police to conduct the reinvestigation.
While Martins maintained that the move followed concerns raised by another defence counsel, Abiodun Layonu (SAN), Oyetibo argued that the police had already concluded an investigation that **cleared his client of wrongdoing.
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Justice Sonaike, after noting the confusion over a letter that allegedly triggered the new probe, adjourned the matter to January 12, 2026, directing that the police should communicate their fresh findings to the prosecution before the next hearing.
Behind the courtroom drama lies a web of contradictory reports. A police report signed by DCP Mohammed Dahiru had earlier exonerated Ochonogor and Owolabi, confirming that the demolition notice on the disputed Lekki property was authentic and issued by Lagos State officials not forged as alleged.
The report detailed that the land, Block 133, Plot 10, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1, was originally allocated to Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, in 1994.
It also found that the deed of assignment presented by the complainant, Dr. Obidigwe Eze, was not signed by Al-Mustapha, and that the memorandum of loss and demolition notices were genuine.
Despite this, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, in a letter dated August 22, 2025, directed the police to reopen the investigation, citing “new developments” and instructing them to question additional witnesses including Dr. Eze and Major Al-Mustapha.
Oyetibo, however, insists the state’s latest move undermines justice:
“If the prosecution claims not to know about a letter calling for reinvestigation, while the defence does, then something is wrong. The law cannot be used as a weapon of oppression,” he said.
The high-profile case, now mired in conflicting reports, petitions, and power play will resume in January 2026, as Lagos awaits yet another police verdict on a land dispute that refuses to die.
