Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration has encountered a significant legal obstacle in its pursuit of a major industrial development project after a High Court in Sagamu issued an injunction blocking the seizure of ancestral lands in Ilara Remo community.
Justice O.S. Oloyede on August 18, 2025, granted an extended restraining order preventing Abiodun’s government and its corporate partners, Industrial Platform Remo Limited and Arise Integrated Industrial Platform, from proceeding with development activities on 15,309 acres of farmland in Remo North Local Government Area. The injunction remains effective until January 13, 2026.
The Governor finds himself at the centre of a heated legal battle initiated by 19 community leaders who have accused his administration of orchestrating what they describe as a coordinated land-grab scheme. The plaintiffs, including Chief Samuel Olukoya Sodunola (Lisa of Ilara Remo) and Chief Babatunde Ogunfeso (Oliwo Egudu), have named Abiodun alongside the state Attorney General, the Bureau of Lands, and the two development companies as defendants in case HCS/377/2025.
According to community lawyer Dr Olumide Ayeni, Abiodun’s government has already deployed surveyors and construction crews to begin unauthorised activities on the disputed territory, including erecting structures and facilitating land sales without community consent. The lawyer warned the court that the Governor’s industrial expansion agenda threatens to cause “irreversible and beyond financial repair” damage to the community’s agricultural heritage.
“These lands are not just soil—they are the heritage, the food basket, and the lifeline of Ilara Remo,” Ayeni argued. “What the government is doing is robbing an entire people of their history and their future.”
The legal challenge represents a significant test for Abiodun’s development policies, which have emphasized industrial growth and private sector partnerships. However, the Governor now faces mounting criticism over his administration’s approach to land acquisition and community consultation processes.
The case highlights growing tensions between Abiodun’s modernization agenda and traditional communities who claim ancestral rights to lands targeted for government-backed development projects. The Ilara Remo dispute has become emblematic of broader conflicts across Ogun State over land rights and industrial expansion.
When proceedings resume in January 2026, Abiodun’s legal team will be required to defend the administration’s actions and justify the industrial project against the community’s claims of unlawful dispossession.
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The Governor’s office has not yet issued a public response to the court ruling or the allegations made by the Ilara Remo community leaders.
This story will be updated as new developments emerge.
