Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi of the Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square has threatened to deliver judgement against the Lagos State government and three of its agencies if they continue to fail to defend a suit filed against them over the demolition of shops at the Oluwole Market on Lagos Island.
Justice Ogunjobi threatened after the agencies, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LSBCA), the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, and the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, failed to appear or file defences to the suit.
Under the banner of the Lagos Merchandise and Traders Association, some aggrieved traders are demanding N3.4 billion as compensation for the alleged illegal demolition of their places of business.
The Association, which filed the suit for itself and on behalf of 169 others, is asking the court to declare that the demolition of the clamps they occupied at the Oluwole Kee clamps Market, Lagos Island, by the Defendants is wrongful, unlawful, and unconstitutional.
Apart from the association, other claims in the suit are those of Babro Ventures Limited and Tosh Limited.
The defendants in the case include the Lagos State Attorney General,
The defendants were absent during the court’s last sitting on November 8, 2024, and there was no representation. Counsel for the claimants, Silas Ukairo, informed the court that the defendants were served copies of the processes in July.
Based on the development, Justice Ogunjobi adjourned the case until December 6, 2024, for further proceedings and ordered that hearing notices be sent to the defendants.
However, at the resumed hearing of the case, Mrs Adeola Ajaga represented only the Attorney General of Lagos State and the Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority in court, apart from Ukairo.
The lawyer informed the court that she had filed a 12-paragraph defence statement for the first and fifth defendants dated December 4, 2024, in which they denied all allegations made by the claimants.
In their 15-paragraph affidavit, the defendants asserted that the claimants were lessees of the fifth defendant and that their leasehold had not expired before the demolition.
When the judge asked defence counsel Ajaga if she knew of the demolition notice, she replied that she did not.
Justice Ogunjobi then ordered hearing notices to be sent to the other defendants (the second, third, and fourth), warning that judgment would be entered against them if they failed to appear.
The judge instructed Ajaga to ensure that hearing notices were sent to the other defendants, and the case was adjourned until January 17, 2025, for further proceedings.