Court stops firms from taking over Abuja Land extension
An Abuja High Court
yesterday rejected an application filed by a South African company and
the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to set aside its order
restraining them from tampering with land around Lugbe, Abuja, pending
the determination of the suit over the ownership of the land.
On August 12, the court had ordered the FCDA,
Jonah Capital
Nigeria Limited and Houses For Africa Nigeria Limited to stay off the
disputed land area pending a lawsuit brought by hundreds of people
accusing the firms of wanting to take over their land. However, the two
firms asked the court to set aside the order on the grounds that they
were not properly served with the court processes.
Although the firms
admitted that a secretary with the organisation, Queen Elizabeth
Inogba, was served with the court processes leading to the said
restraining order, they contended that service on her was flawed since
she was not a management level employee.
But counsel to the
three sets of plaintiffs – Blessed and Precious Children Academy,
General Building Material Dealers Association, Lugbe Chapter and Lugbe
1 Land Owners Association – Valentine Offiah, opposed the firms’
application.
In his ruling,
Justice Peter Afem agreed with Mr. Offiah and said that the act of
serving the secretary of the firm was proper and accordingly valid.
“The application of the 2nd and 3rd respondents accordingly fails and is hereby rejected”, the judge ruled.
Leave a Reply