Ayodele Popoola
Two staff of the Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, Stella Akinbobola and Adewumi Matthew Opeyemi, have been sentenced to seven years and five years imprisonment respectively.
They were convicted for forcible entry and conspiracy to commit felony.
The convicts were dragged to court by the police for unlawful invasion of land in Ondo town.
The trial judge, Justice Williams Rotimi Olamide convicted the duo, while he discharged and acquitted the third defendant, Ojopaun Tope.
Justice Olamide gave Stella option of fine to the tune of N250,000 on each of the charges, while Matthew was given an option of fine of N100,000 on counts 1 to 4.
The two were accused of forgery and uttering a Warrant of Possession after same had been signed by Hon. Justice Bode Adegbehingbe by altering the documents with the use of corrective fluid.
The suspects were also accused of inserting Claimant in the column where 1st defendant was originally written and inserting 1st defendant where Claimant was originally written.
With their action, the duo gave possession of land in possession of the rightful owners to a wrong party .
Joseph Akinlaja who supported nominal complaints in the case, said he decided to take up the matter because the two defendants forcibly took over the lands that belong to the people.
Akinlaja, a former member of the House of Representatives, said the judgement is a clear indication that the judiciary is the hope of the common man.
He said “The people reported to me, most especially those who don’t have money, those who don’t have money to survey their family land.
“Poor people don’t have money to survey their lands, but land grabbers have money to spend. They spend millions to survey the land and make presentation that looks real to court and it is possible they win.
‘But in this case, justice was delivered and dedicated to the poor people that owned their land in Ondo town
“The case that brought us to this place is a case of somebody who said her father has 6,700 hectares of land in Ondo and what is the size of Ondo itself and she began to bulldoze people’s land and oppressed them and even planned to shoot me.
“Police came from SWAT on trump charges against him for pursuing the case. I am happy justice is served.”
The prosecuting counsel, Tolu Abisagbo, said the case was a long journey to justice.
The accused persons were however, given an option of fine.
