Court Orders Army To Vacate Land, Awards N3m Damages To Claimant

A High Court sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital, has issued a perpetual injunction restraining the Nigerian Army and the General Officer Commanding 3 Armoured Division, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment to immediately vacate and dismantle all illegal structures erected on a disputed parcel of land at Adisindu village, Dutsen Kura in Bassa LGA of Plateau State.

LEADERSHIP reports that the property measuring 1.449 hectares and covered by the certificate of Occupancy No PL56329, belongs to Dr. Mawo Abaya, a missionary and founder of the International Centre of Evangelism.

The claimant, Abaya, had, through his firm of Solicitors, Harry Partners, sought multiple declarations affirming his ownership and challenging what he described as unlawful entry and surveying, digging and erection of structures by the Army on his land .

He asserted that the land originally belonged to the Ati Adeji family of Igbak-Kago village, the traditional owners, who sold it to him, via a duly executed sale agreement dated 17 September 2017, adding that subsequently he obtained a valid Certificate of Occupancy from the Plateau State Ministry of Lands .

Abaya also told the court that he first noticed the Army encroachment in 2022 after the defendant fenced the property and despite notifying the Army of their wrongful act of trespassing and his intention to seek legal redress the construction continued.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army also presented one witness, the acting director of Legal Services of the 3 Armoured Division, who argued that the entire land, measuring 7.76 square miles, was acquired in 1973 by the Federal Ministry of Defence in two phases from the Rukuba community.

He claimed that compensation was paid in 1995 and that the claimant acted in error when purchasing the land in 2017 stressing that the Plateau State Minister of Lands had previously issued and later withdrawn a Right of Occupancy granted to another entity for a police post retirement housing scheme on the same land.

Hon. Justice S.D. Samchi in his rulling in the suit No. PLD/J330/2023 held that the Nigerian Army failed to provide credible evidence to support its claims that the land form part of the vast area compulsorily acquired by the Federal Government in 1973 for Military use.

He held that the defendant failed to discharge the burden of proof required to establish that the disputed  parcel  formed part of the land allegedly acquired in the 1970s.

According to him, the exhibits tendered by the Army, including documents relating to the acquisition, survey plans and compensation did not convincingly link the particular land covered by exhibits B (C of O PL56329) to any previous acquisition.

The court further held that the Army’s action of fencing off the land constituted trespass, noting that their conduct reasonably created psychological distress and apprehension for the claimant and therefore awarded N3 million as general damages to the claimant.

The court granted reliefs 1-7 sought by the claimant including a declaration affirming  the claimant as the legal and beneficial owner of the land, an order directing the Army to vacate the property and remove all illegal structures and a perpetual injunction restraining further interference or development. The Army’s counterclaim was dismissed in its entirety.

“This shall be the judgement of the court”  Justice Samchi declared.