Lawyer Asks Lagos CJ To Probe Illegal Eviction By Court Bailiffs

A Lagos-based lawyer, Mrs. Amanda Asagba, has urged the chief judge of the state, Justice Kazeem Alogba. to investigate the alleged invasion of her home by some court sheriffs and policemen under the guise of enforcing a judgment of the court.

Asagba, in the letter dated July 29, 2022, called on Justice Alogba to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the judgment and take appropriate disciplinary action against those who carried out what she described as degrading, dehumanising, illegal and an unjustifiable action.

The lawyer claimed in the letter that she and her husband, Eric Asagba, are the owner of the house located on 2, Nduka Osadebey Street, Ajao Estate, off Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road, Lagos State which they bought, built, and had been living in for over 25 years.

She stated that the judgment in suit No ID/2469/93, Kenneth Gbagi vs Mr. C.C. Emina was wrongly executed by the deputy sheriff and others at their house on July 28, 2022.

Asagba alleged that the enforcement team threw out her family and all their belongings on the street.

The lawyer said, “This unpleasant and most harrowing and traumatic surprise sprang on us is most embarrassing and degrading as we were not a party to the said suit and the purported execution was a wrongful invasion of our privacy and residential homes and has since rendered our families homeless with the destruction of assets worth over N500 million.

“The incident caused us the worst form of physical, psychological, emotional trauma and likely consequential future health effects – as we have lost sleep since the incident. We have our purchase receipts, survey plans, approved building plans, and other statutory payments in respect of the said property.

“We have made an inquiry from the court and were able to discover there was no judgment in Suit No ID/2469/93, Kenneth O Gbagi Vs C. C. Emina and two others, therefore the issuance and execution of Notice of Attachment (Form 41) on our property for goods and chattels in respect of that suit is illegal and unjustifiable

“Despite not having a writ of possession, our families were forcefully chased out of our homes, and some were purportedly sealed up completely. Arising from the above, we urge your Lordship to order an urgent investigation of our complaints,” she said

Asagba, in an interview with LEADERSHIP, said “the enforcement team insisted that they were privy to the judgment because they got it against the person that sold the property to us, and because of that we have to go.

“We tried to make the case that we bought the land, a plot, and some square metres, from Alhaji Bashiru who was at that time the head of the Orisadeko Family and they sold it to everybody on this particular street.

“We did not know exactly what the situation is but we believe this is led by a land grabber, who had already taken possession of the land belonging to Kenneth Gbagi, at Robinson Gbagi Street, Ajao Estate.

“We have been jumping from one hotel to another hotel, if I don’t have money to sleep in a hotel where would I have been? Why do we have a department of land registering? Why do we have the survey office and people pay for it? This is a failed system and no Nigerian should be made to suffer for the failure of governance,’’ she said.

The attempt made by our correspondent to get Gbagi’s reaction to the incident was not successful, as he failed to pick up his calls or respond to messages sent to his WhatsApp number.

Also, a lawyer to one of the parties, Bener Fela, when contacted said the aggrieved persons should approach the court for redress.