The billionaire businessman is in the court again. This time, it is not Adaobi Alagwu who is insisting that he is the father of her child but Tunde Ayeni is being dragged before a judge for retrieving a house gift he gave his former girlfriend, Gail Fajembola
Lagos socialite Gail Fajembola has dragged businessman Tunde Ayeni and others to court over what she described as harassment and threats over a luxury apartment at Ocean Parade Towers, Banana Island, Lagos. In a suit filed on June 25, 2025 before the Federal High Court in Lagos, Ms Fajembola is seeking legal protection against what she claims is police interference in a civil dispute.
The property in question, Flat K9-2, became a focal point of controversy after Fajembola alleged that Mr Ayeni, her former companion, and Olutoyl Estate Development & Services Ltd pressured her to evict the tenant and surrender the property. She contends that the Nigeria Police Force acted on behalf of Ayeni and the company to intimidate her.
In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/2025, her lawyer, Akin Apara of BA Law LLP, argued that “the police have no lawful authority to interfere in a purely civil dispute over possession of an apartment.” Fajembola is asking the court to declare that “any attempt or threat by the police to arrest, detain, or otherwise interfere with my liberty or dignity on account of a private civil disagreement is unconstitutional, unlawful, and an abuse of police powers.”
The socialite is also demanding N50 million in damages for what she describes as “unlawful and unconstitutional interference with my rights through threats, harassment, and police intimidation.”
According to a 10-paragraph affidavit filed alongside the suit, the disagreement stems from a personal relationship between Fajembola and Ayeni, which began in 2016. The document, deposed to by Olawale Arowosaye, a litigation clerk at BA Law LLP, states that Ayeni allowed Fajembola to take possession of the apartment in 2016. She reportedly spent $45,792 to furnish the property and lived there until relocating to the UK in 2019.
After her relocation, Fajembola temporarily used the apartment as an Airbnb and later leased it in 2022 to Expand Global Industries Ltd for one year. She maintains that the lease was executed with Ayeni’s verbal consent.
However, following the breakdown of their relationship, Ayeni and the estate firm allegedly began pressuring her to evict the tenant and hand over the apartment. “Rather than pursue lawful eviction through the courts, the 5th and 6th respondents turned to the police to exert unlawful pressure on me, my agent, and the tenant,” Fajembola stated in her affidavit.
Fajembola told the court that she and others were summoned by the police, where they were allegedly subjected to harassment and intimidation. She also refuted media reports claiming she had been arrested or detained. “I wish to state categorically that I have never been arrested or detained by the police and at no point did I claim ownership of the property or purport to sell it. Those reports are false and malicious,” she said.
Fajembola said she formally handed over the apartment to Ayeni and Olutoyl Estate Development & Services Ltd in April 2025, leaving behind furnishings and household appliances she had purchased. Despite this, she alleges that the threats and harassment have persisted, causing her emotional distress and making it unsafe for her to visit Lagos.
“The ongoing pressure from the respondents, including unwarranted police involvement and negative media narratives, has made it unsafe for me to visit Lagos and has caused me considerable emotional and psychological distress,” she said.
Olutoyl Estate Development & Services Ltd has fired back with accusations of fraud. In a petition dated June 13, 2025, and addressed to the Inspector General of Police, the company claimed that Fajembola unlawfully took possession of the apartment and leased it out without consent.
The petition, submitted through Legal Resources Alliance, alleged that Fajembola collected over N100 million in rental income over three years without informing the rightful owner. “Ms Gail Fajembola was initially permitted to reside in the apartment strictly on humanitarian grounds,” the petition read. “This act of kindness was extended to her by our client after she claimed to be homeless and without shelter.”
The company described Fajembola’s actions as “a calculated and sustained scheme” to exploit the property for personal financial gain. “It is shocking that someone who was granted access purely out of compassion would proceed to commercialise that access and exploit the property for personal enrichment,” the petition stated.
Tunde Ayeni, a former chairman of the defunct Skye Bank Plc, is also facing a paternity dispute with Abuja-based lawyer Adaobi Alagwu. Ms. Alagwu claims that Ayeni is the father of her daughter, and the matter is currently being heard in court.