Kemisola Oye
A notice of consequences of disobedience to an order of court (otherwise known as contempt of court) has been filed before a Lagos State High Court against a former Head of the Lagos State Task Force, Engineer Peter Omotosho; a company, STARMARK Finance Company Limited and another defendant over their alleged flagrant disobedience to an order of court restraining them from trespassing on a land belonging to a medical doctor in the Lekki area of the state.
Joined as defendant/respondent in the notice, Form 48, filed at the registry of the court by Dr Ojo Oluwatosin Ademola, a medical doctor, who is the claimant/applicant, is Mr Tunji Solaja who is accused of flagrant disobedience to the order of court delivered by Justice Akinkunmi O. Idowu.
Aside from the foregoing, the court was also urged to restrain the law firm of Lawal Pedro (SAN) & Associates from representing STARMARK Finance Company Limited in an ongoing suit filed by the medical doctor seeking to prevent alleged land grabbers from taking over his land.
In the suit filed by Dr Ademola, he is praying the court to order the law firm of the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice “to withdraw its representation for the 1st defendant (the company) in the suit on the ground of conflict of interest.”
The claimant also prayed the court to set “aside the order for change of counsel of the 1st defendant to the law firm of Lawal Pedro (SAN) & Associates granted on the 18th February 2025.”
The court has granted an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the “defendants/respondents whether by themselves, their servants, or agents or privies or otherwise, whosoever from trespassing, harassing, or going into the land or carrying out any activities whatsoever on the land, lying and situate at Plot 1, Block 4, Lekki Peninsula, Scheme 1, Admiralty Road, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State measuring 1, 147.124 square metres vide Deed of Assignment registered as No. 69, page 69, in Volume 2741 of the Land Registry, Ikeja, Lagos State, pending the hearing and determination of the suit.”
The court also granted: “An order for interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants/respondents whether by themselves, their servants, or agents or privies or otherwise, whosoever from using force, thugs, the Police and other agencies of the government to harass, intimidate, break into the claimant’s property lying and situate at Plot 1, Block 4, Lekki Peninsula, Scheme 1, Admiralty Road, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State measuring 1,147.124 square meters vide Deed of Assignment registered as No.69, Page 69, in Volume 2741 of the Land Registry, Ikeja, Lagos State, pending the hearing and determination of the suit.”
The claimant claimed that in spite of the subsistence of the court order, the defendants/ respondents continue to use Police and other spurious means to invade the land and disturb the owner and his workers from peaceful enjoyment of his property.
Dr Ojo’s lawyer stated, “Shockingly, despite the court’s injunction and the Director of Public Prosecution’s advice for the prosecution of the alleged offenders, the land grabbers continue their attempts to seize the property. They have employed the services of Police personnel several times, which we resisted, realising that we have genuine documents and court order over the said parcel of land.”
Already, the matter has been adjourned till 10 April 2025 when the court would probably hear the claimant/applicant’s application for committal following the filing of Form 49, a committal proceeding against the respondents.
It would be recalled that the medical doctor had cried out to the authorities concerned including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Inspector General of Police for their urgent intervention following an alleged forceful and illegal ploy to take over his land as contained above.
Dr Ojo, who was working towards building a world-class specialist hospital for the benefit of Lagosians and Nigerians, revealed that his investment and life were under serious threat due to the actions of the suspected land grabbers and land speculators who are hell-bent on taking over his legitimate property.
According to Dr Ojo, he legally purchased the the said property located on Admiralty Road, Lekki Phase 1, from Churchgate Nigeria Ltd in 2020, and duly perfected the title by obtaining the Governor’s Consent and registering the land at the Bureau of Lands, Lagos State.
Through his lawyer, Mr Ayodele Osanyinlusi, the medical doctor stated that he secured the necessary building approvals from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPA) apart from the Certificate of Occupancy issued to cover the land dated 16th, January 1990 which gave him the authority to commence the building of his hospital.
Mr Osanyinlusi stated that problem started in 2023 when construction began on the hospital project, as about 15 armed policemen accompanied by thugs allegedly stormed the site, violently evicting workers while claiming to be operatives of the Lagos State Task Force without any verifiable documents or title to the property.
The lawyer said that it was the immediate intervention of Dr Ojo’s attorney, Mr Ademola Ekundayo, that led to the discovery through the Police that the invaders were not indeed from the Lagos State Task Force, prompting their withdrawal.
Mr Osanyinlusi expressed dismay that despite Maroko Police division’s intervention, court order and the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP’s advice dated 15th August 2024 and 30th December 2024, the harassment from the land speculators persisted.
“They returned, broke into the site, vandalised the property, and carted away building materials worth over N30 million”, Mr Osanyinlusi added.
The lawyer stated that the case was later escalated to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex in Alagbon, but efforts to halt the illegal activities faced more challenges, as the alleged invaders resorted to using several falsehoods to invite Police personnel from several locations to intimidate the occupants on the land.
Eighteen-Eleven Media