Obi decries invasion, demolition of brother’s Lagos property, demands justice

Obi at the demolished property

By TANKO ALI

Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has criticised an attempted forceful takeover of a Lagos property belonging to Next Foods Limited, which his younger brother, Ndibe Obi, is the majority shareholder.

Bulldozers started demolishing the property located at number 57, Oduduwa Crescent in the Ikeja GRA of Lagos State, beginning from Monday, June 23, 2025 and continuing to June 24, 2025, on the grounds of a purported judgment which grants ownership of the property to one Deborah Olorunlogbon. The controversy, however, is that while Deborah Olorunlogbon was listed as the claimant in the case, the defendant was listed as an “unknown person”. Hence, the case was treated as a case of illegal encroachment. Obi’s younger brother, whose company had been in control of the property since 2011 when they acquired it, was unaware of the case until bulldozers arrived. He phoned Obi to alert him of his distress.

While the demolition was going on, Obi arrived at the scene at about 9:30 am on June 24.

He notified the site contractor that the property belonged to Next Foods Limited, of which his younger brother is the majority shareholder, not an “unknown person”.

He also advised the site contractor to stop further demolition as a court injunction had already been secured. He insisted on remaining at the premises until the court documents arrived and were served on them.

Obi later received the documents and handed them over to the contractor, which bars the continuation of the demolition.