Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court Lagos has struck out a suit filed by members of the Okun-Ajah Community and other concerned property owners in the Eti-Osa area of the state challenging the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project for lack of jurisdiction.
Justice Aluko, while delivering a ruling on the suit, held that the suit was filed in the wrong court and therefore lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.
The judge consequently transferred the case to the Lagos State High Court, which he stated was the appropriate forum to hear it.
The plaintiffs in the case include Chief Saheed Olukosi (the Akogun of the Okun-Ajah Community), Noibi Afolayan, Yussuf Sulaiman, Olufemi Fasehun, and Adeola Tokunbo, all representing the Okun-Ajah Community and other concerned property owners.
The defendants in the lawsuit are the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, Engineer Olukorede Keisha, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the Attorney General of Lagos State, and the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development.
Other defendants included the Lagos State Surveyor-General, the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority General Manager, the Lagos State Building Control Agency General Manager, and Hitech Construction Limited.
Through their lawyers, Abiodun Ajiboye, the plaintiffs urged the court for an injunction to halt the project on several grounds.
They requested the following reliefs:
“An order to set aside any acts of encroachment on their properties and to annul the designs and plans for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road that affect their lands.
“An order restraining the first, third and ninth defendants from trespassing, encroaching, or diverting the construction into their land.”
The plaintiffs also claimed damages for alleged trespassing on the disputed land.
In response, the defendants asked that the court strike out the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.
The first, second, third, and ninth defendants filed separate preliminary objections through their lawyers, Professor Olukayode Olatoke (SAN), asserting that the suit should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
In his ruling, Justice Aluko held, “Based on the foregoing, the issues raised in the preliminary objections of the first, second and third defendants, and that of the ninth defendant, are resolved in favour of the objectors and against the plaintiffs.
“The objections of the first through third and ninth defendants/objectors are therefore upheld.
“This court has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the subject matter of this case. Consequently, pursuant to Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act, this case is hereby transferred to the Lagos State High Court for proper adjudication,” Justice Aluko held.
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