…IGP Kayode Egbetokun sued over controversial land dispute
… Ghanaians protesters implore President Tinubu to intervene, stop the Police targeting Ghanaian businesses
The Head of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr. Akin Fakorede, has been accused of stonewalling the ongoing work at the River Park Estate because of a dispute involving some Ghanaian investors.
This was even as it was gathered that this prostrated land case has not only led to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun being dragged to court, but some Ghanaian protesters has implored President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to step into the matter, protect their businesses in Nigeria, to ensure continual peaceful coexistence between Nigeria and Ghana.
It will recalled that the Nigeria Police Force has several times being warned never to get involved in matters relating to land since it was a civil matter.
It was gathered that the DCP Fakorede was accused of bias against Ghanaian businessmen, including Kojo Ansah Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer of Houses For Africa.
Fakorede was also accused of failing to act on an investigation report by the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) led by DCP Usman Ahmed Imam.
A police source disclosed that there was a panel report concerning the ongoing matter, stressing that the content of that report should be made public by Fakorede.
The source mused: “Why is DCP Fakorede claiming Ghanaians forged some documents without interviewing the lawyers who prepared the documents? Why is he always meeting lawyers of the other parties in his office?”
It will be recalled that an online media organisation, SaharaReporters, had earlier reported that a petition obtained revealed serious allegations of bias and misconduct against officers of the Nigeria Police Force deployed to the River Park Estate in Abuja, accusing them of taking sides with a private developer in a contentious property dispute.
The petition, dated May 16, 2025, and signed by Kojo Ansah Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of Houses For Africa, was addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, and copied to the Acting High Commissioner of the Republic of Ghana, the Inspector-General of Police, and other top police officials.
The petition, titled: “Concerns of Bias by Police Officers Deployed To River Park Estate,” highlights the Real Estate company’s anger over what it described as the police officers’ presence only on their uncontested land, while abandoning contentious plots where stop-work orders had been issued.
The petition reads in part: “These officers were assigned to maintain peace, prevent any breakdown of law and order, and ensure compliance with the stop-work directive issued by the Special Investigative Panel of the Inspector General of Police on contentious lands in the Estate, specifically Clusters 1A, Sector Centre and 5A.
“However, contrary to their mandate of impartiality, the officers have conspicuously stationed themselves solely on our land designated for the Jonah Court project, which is not part of the contentious areas, leaving the Paulo Homes team to continue work unimpeded on contentious areas, namely Plots 1A, Sector Centre, and 5A.
“What is extremely alarming is that the police officers present have been relocated from all areas of contention in the Estate to our Jonah Court land which is not under contention, leaving the areas under contention namely Sector Center, 5A and 1A unmanned for Paulo Homes to develop in contravention of the orders of the SIP of the IGP.”
Earlier, an online media also reported that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, was sued before a Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of intimidation, harassment, and violation of fundamental human rights tied to the controversial land dispute at the prestigious River Park Estate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The legal action, filed under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1130/2025, was initiated by directors of Jonah Capital Nigeria Limited and their Ghanaian partners under the investment consortium Houses for Africa, including renowned Ghanaian businessman Sir Samuel Esson Jonah, Kojo Ansah Mensah, Victor Quainoo, and their legal counsel, Abu Arome.
Also named as defendants in the suit are the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Saka Adewale; the Head of the IGP Monitoring Unit, DCP Akin Fakorede; EFCC Zonal Commander Michael Wetkas; EFCC investigator Eunice Vou Dalyop; and one Kabiru Baba.
The plaintiffs are demanding N200 million in exemplary damages, citing repeated instances of harassment, arbitrary arrests, and the abuse of state power by top law enforcement officials.
According to the claimants, these actions are connected to a contested ownership claim over portions of River Park Estate, an upscale residential development in Abuja.
The root of this conflict is centred on an earlier investigation launched by the Inspector-General of Police through a Special Investigation Panel (SIP) led by DCP Usman Ahmed Imam, following multiple petitions.
It was also earlier reported that protesters on Wednesday stormed the Nigerian High Commission in Accra, Ghana’s capital, asking the commissioner to prevail on the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to intervene in some cases of alleged harassment of Ghanaian businesses in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The protesters marched to the Nigerian High Commission in Roman Ridge, Accra, with placards, demanding a safe business environment for Ghanaian businesses while referencing recent harassment by the Nigerian police.
One of the protesters, James Clark, under the aegis of the Concerned Citizens of Ghana (CCG) urged the Nigerian High Commissioner to wade in and end the harassment by the Nigerian police.
His words: “Some Nigerian elements are harassing the Ghanaian business interests in Abuja. The Ghanaians, led by Mr Essien Jonah, who has several firms, went to court in a civil dispute. You see, we live peacefully with our Nigerian brothers in Ghana. We got married to each other and all. But presently, our Ghanaian brothers in Nigeria are being harassed, and we just want the Commissioner to talk to the Nigerian Inspector-General of Police and the Nigerian Immigration Service and talk to the Nigerian president so that everything will be peaceful, and this harassment will stop.”
SaharaReporters on Tuesday reported that the Nigerian police under Egbetokun, the Commissioner of Police of the FCT, Ajao Adewale, and the Head of the IGP Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters, DCP Akin Fakorede, were dragged to court by the developers of River Park Estate in Abuja, Jonah Capital and their Ghanaian promoters, citing continuous violation of their fundamental human rights.
