Tinubu’s ADC seeks arrest of Kwara lawyer over alleged land grabbing

The aide-de-camp to President Bola Tinubu, Lieutenant-Colonel Nurudeen Yusuf, who is also the Elemona of Ilemona in Kwara State, has initiated criminal defamation proceedings against a lawyer, Nuruddin Abdulsalam, over allegations of land grabbing and abuse of power involving the traditional ruler.

Court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES show that an Upper Area Court in Ilorin issued a warrant of arrest against Mr Abdulsalam on 29 October over a publication in which he accused Mr Yusuf of using his position and government connections to intimidate residents of neighbouring communities.

The documents also show that Mr Yusuf filed a direct criminal complaint against the lawyer on 28 October, accusing him of criminal defamation under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law.

The complaint, filed through his solicitors, P&C Chambers, asked the court to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr Abdulsalam over an open letter titled A Call Against Impunity: The Overreach of the ADC to the President, Elemona of Ilemona Community of Kwara State.

The letter, published on 27 October, accused Mr Yusuf, who is also an aide-de-camp to President Bola Tinubu, of allegedly using his military position and traditional authority to facilitate land seizures and intimidate residents of Offa and Ira communities in Kwara State.

Mr Abdulsalam also alleged that armed youths from Ilemona were involved in forcefully taking over land and that security agencies were being used to harass people who challenged the alleged activities.

PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier that the lawyer accused the police of intimidating him over his allegations against Mr Yusuf.

However, the newspaper has confirmed that the court summons directed Mr Abdulsalam to appear before the Upper Area Court in Ilorin on 8 November at 9 a.m. to answer the criminal defamation allegation.

A separate warrant of arrest dated 29 October directed that the lawyer be arrested and produced before the court. The documents do not establish whether the warrant has been executed.

Earlier allegations

The legal action follows a statement issued by Mr Abdulsalam on 3 November, in which he alleged that police officers had been deployed from Kwara State to Abuja to arrest him.

He said a caller who identified himself as a police officer told him a team from Kwara had arrived in Abuja and was stationed at the Gwagwalada Police Division for investigative activities.

Mr Abdulsalam said he asked the police to serve him with a formal invitation if his presence was required.

He described the alleged deployment as an attempt to intimidate him over his allegations against the traditional ruler.

The lawyer also cited the detention of a farmer, Suara Agidingbadi, whom he said was being held on fabricated charges arising from a land dispute in Alaya community.

Farmer faces firearms possession charges

Court documents show that Mr Agidingbadi was charged before the High Court of Kwara State with illegal possession of a firearm and criminal trespass.

The charge sheet, dated 26 October and signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the state Ministry of Justice, Ayoola Akande, contains two counts.

The first accuses Mr Agidingbadi of being found in possession of a single-barrel gun and one live cartridge at Alaya Village, Ilemona, on 20 October. It cites Section 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act.

The second count accuses him of criminally trespassing on a parcel of land allegedly in the possession of Yusuf Rasheed while armed with the gun and cartridge. It cites Section 348 of the Penal Code of Kwara State.

A police statement recorded on 20 October identifies the farmer as a 57-year-old resident of Alaya. In the statement, Mr Agidingbadi said he was a native of Offa and had been farming on the disputed land since 2002 with the permission of a man he identified as Waleeb Bello.

He said the community asked him to stop farming on the land in April 2026 and that he was subsequently invited to a police station and warned against returning.

Mr Agidingbadi said he returned on 18 October to harvest his crops but was confronted by a group of men and taken to the police station.

According to court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, he admitted having a single-barrel gun but said he used it for hunting and was also a member of a local vigilante group.

“I was not using my barrel gun to hunt or to threaten anyone in the community,” he said in the statement.

The police statement was witnessed by two individuals, according to the document.

READ ALSO: 2027: Tinubu’s performance enough for his re-election, says education minister Tunji Alausa

Dispute over land ownership

In his 27 October letter, Mr Abdulsalam alleged that the farmer had been working on the land with permission before he was confronted by youths from Ilemona and arrested.

However, the charge sheet alleges that the land was in the possession of Mr Rasheed and that Mr Agidingbadi trespassed on it while armed.

The documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES do not establish the ownership of the disputed land or determine the merits of the allegations against either party.

Mr Yusuf’s criminal complaint against Mr Abdulsalam and the charges against Mr Agidingbadi are separate legal proceedings arising from the wider dispute.

PREMIUM TIMES could not independently establish whether the police had acted on the arrest warrant against Mr Abdulsalam or whether the lawyer had been formally served with the court summons.