ILLEGAL POSSESSION: THUGS BEAT UP 91 YEAR OLD WOMAN, DRAG HER OUT OF IKOYI PROPERTY

IKOYI, Lagos, Nigeria – The legal tussle over the ownership of two blocks of flats located at 41 Kingsway Road (now Alfred Rewane road) Ikoyi degenerated at the weekend as one of the defendants in the suit attacked residents with thugs and demolished the property.

The attack which was carried out at about 4 am on Saturday left the 91-year-old grandma along with her daughter, a retired civil servant, Alhaja Halima Abubakar thoroughly brutalised when thugs numbering about 30 invaded the property with with cutlasses, sledge-hammers and guns.

Eye witneses said the 91 years old woman along with her daughters were dragged out of the house and in the process sustained brusies all over their bodies.

Narrating her ordeal, the owner of the property, Halima Abubakar said, they were sleeping when they heard people trying to force the gate open with sledgehammer. According to her the invaders eventually succeeded in breaking the fence down and forcefully entered their rooms and dragged the 91 years old grandma out of bed.

She said “the hoodlums rough handled my elderly mother before rummaging through my belongings and carted away £7000, 5000 USD and N5 million as we’ll as my jewelries.

“The thugs pushed into the apartment dragged us from the house. One of the hoodlums grabbed and twisted by neck but only God protected me from his hands”.

She stated that some of the hoodlums came in army uniform and threatened to kill her and nothing will happen. Explaining how the issue stated, Mrs. Abubakar said ” I am a retired civil servants and I retired as a principal accountant after 35 years of service. The property in dispute was allocated to me by the Federal government. Problem started when I refused to sell my two flats a property developer, Felix Ezeamama.

“I have been living here for more than 40 years along with other retired civil servants. While others sold their houses to Ezeamama, I refused to sell mine but he insisted that he must buy them.
According to her the attack was masterminded by Ezeamama one of the defendants in suit No-LD/2036/3016, and that he was physically present during the attack.

She stated that the dispute over the property was already a subject of litigation before Justice Wasiu Animahun of the Lagos high Court. Justice Animahun had on April 26 after the Case Management Conference (CMC) ordered parties to maintain status quo and return the case file to the Admin judge to be reassigned for trial.

In the suit filed by her lawyer, Carlos Mbaka against Web Towers Limited, Felix Ezeamama and the Registrar of Titles Federal Land Regisry, the claimant stated that sometimes in 1992, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing by a letter dated June 10, 1992 with ref No-HMW/41026/SAII/06/VOL1/3837 allocated to her flats 1&2 of Block A, 41 Kingsway Road Ikoyi.

The claimant averred that when the federal government decided to divest in all buildings and lands in Lagos including the property at 41 Kingsway Road Ikoyi, she and other sitting tenants engaged the federal government in discussions/negotiations to have it rescind its proposed redevelopment or alternately make a replacement for them.

Consequently, the federal government gave the sitting tenants who were civil servants the first option to purchase the property in which they reside.

She added that while negotiations between the Federal Government Implementation Committee and the sitting tenants were ongoing, the 2nd defendant (Ezeamama) approached her and other tenants to use his experience in property business to interface with the government on their behalf.

The claimant stated that upon the tenants’ consent to allow the 1st and 2nd defendants to engage the government, the 2nd defendant expressed his intention to purchase each flat at the cost of N7 million which was accepted by the tenants.

The claimant added that the 1st & 2nd defendants renaged on the agreement adding that rather than pay 14 million for her two flats offered to pay N7million which was rejected.She prayed the court for a declaration that she should remain in possession as the owner of block A, Flat 1&2 at 41 Kingsway Road Ikoyi.

The claimant also asked the court for declaration that she cannot be compelled to sell her interest to the defendants or anyone acting for them. She also urged the court to declare that the purported Acceptance Form being paraded by the first and second defendants was obtained by fraud and was forged.

Consequently, the claimant prayed for an order restraining the 3rd defendant (Registrar of Titles Federal Land Regisry) from registering the entire property in the name of the 1st and 2nd defendants and that the property should be resurveyed in such a way as to delineate her interest in Block A Flat 1&2.

The claimant also sought for a perpetual injunction restriaing the defendants their agents and any other person from trespassing on the land. But, the defendants in their statement of defence & counter claim filed by their lawyer, C O Ejezie acknowledged that they offered to purchase each flat at the cost of N7 million as full and final payment and the money was paid to each of the tenants including the claimant.

The defendants added that the Deed of Assignment stated that a compensatory fee of N98 million would be paid by the first defendant to the 14 assignors inclusive the claimant and by arithmetic that leaves each tenant with the sum of N7 million. The defendants further stated that the flats 1&2 occupied by the claimant are mini-flats and when put together are neither better or costlier than the 3-bedroom flat occupied by one of the tenants.

They added that with the Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) and other contracts entered into between the claimant and the 1st defendant, the latter employed the services of several solicitors to ensure that the property was offered to the claimant.

The defendants urged the court to declare the claimant’s rejection of the offer of N7 million as a breach of Contract. The also prayed the court to direct the claimant to vacate the property and pay the sum.of N2.8 million as damage.