A Lagos State High Court sitting in Yaba has restrained the Lagos State Government and four other defendants from taking possession of or interfering with a disputed property belonging to an 80-year-old widow in Lekki Peninsula Scheme I, pending the hearing of a motion on notice.
Justice E.O. Ashade granted the interim order in a suit filed by Chief H.A.K. Shonowo, who is suing for herself and on behalf of the estate of her late husband, Chief Owodiran Olusoga Shonowo.
The defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Government, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Gary Sanusi and Dillon Consultants Nigeria Limited.
The claimant, through her lawyer, Babatunde Oni (SAN), told the court that she had suffered hardship as a result of the defendants’ actions and urged the court to preserve the property pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The disputed property consists of 11 units of four-bedroom terrace houses, three units of three-bedroom flats, one two-bedroom flat and a commercial shop built on about 4,000/4,300 square metres at Block 113, Plot Health Centre, Lekki Peninsula Scheme I, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.
While granting the application, Justice Ashade held that the claimant had established sufficient grounds for the interim relief.
“I am unable, therefore, to find any cogent reasons why the application of the claimant/applicant should be refused, as I find the arguments of the learned senior counsel to be meritorious.
“I am, therefore, inclined to agree with the submissions of the learned senior counsel that it is in the best interest of justice to grant this application,” the judge said.
The court also noted that parties to a pending case must not take actions capable of affecting the court’s jurisdiction.
“It is trite law that when a court is seized of a matter, parties should not do anything that will impact on the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter in any manner whatsoever,” Justice Ashade held.
The judge added that the acts complained of by the claimant could affect the court’s ability to determine the suit if the defendants were not restrained.
Consequently, the court restrained the defendants, either by themselves or through their agents, servants, privies or representatives, from taking possession of, reassigning, transferring, interfering with or otherwise dealing with the claimant’s alleged right to possession of the property pending the hearing of the motion on notice.
Justice Ashade also restrained the fourth and fifth defendants from handing over the disputed property to any person until the pending application was determined.
According to court documents, the claimant and her late husband were jointly allocated the original parcel of land measuring about 7,312.865 square metres in 1996 under a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Lagos State Government.
According to court documents, the claimant and her late husband were jointly allocated the original parcel of land measuring about 7,312.865 square metres in 1996 under a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Lagos State Government.
The claimant stated that the government revoked the right of occupancy through a letter dated October 7, 2020.
She said that following an appeal, the government reallocated 4,000 square metres of the land to her through a letter dated May 17, 2021, while a subsequent survey placed the actual size of the land at about 4,300 square metres.
The claimant further stated that she accepted the allocation and entered into a joint venture agreement with the fourth and fifth defendants to develop the property.
Under the agreement, the developers were to construct 22 units of four-bedroom terrace houses, six units of three-bedroom flats and two units of two-bedroom flats.
She claimed she was entitled to 11 units of the four-bedroom terrace houses, three units of the three-bedroom flats, one two-bedroom flat and a commercial shop, while the remaining units would belong to the developers.