How company used thugs to thwart execution of court judgment - Land Allocation in Abuja

About 400 land grantees operating under the auspices of the Apo XK Extension Residents Association have accused a company, ENL Consortium Limited, of using thugs to thwart the enforcement of a land decision. righteousness.

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Commissioner Babaji on Sunday, Thursday, September 29, deployed officers to enforce a Court of Appeal judgment that restored title to more than 400 plots of land owned by members of the Incorporated Trustees of Apo XK Extension Residents Association.

The Abuja Court of Appeal had on 18 May 2017 overturned the decision of the FCT High Court and declared the re-allocation of over 400 plots of land which constitute the Apo XK scheme by the Minister of FCT and Federal Capital Development Authority to ENL Consortium Limited and Federal Housing Authority as illegal, null and void.

Police accompanied by bailiffs from the FCT High Court then proceeded to the grounds to serve the Court of Appeal Listing Order and High Court Writ of Possession to the occupants of the land.

Court papers evicting the occupants were taped to the gates of the estate and adjoining premises.

But halfway through the law enforcement exercise on September 29, the police detachment abruptly pulled their cover, leaving the beneficiaries, who had gone to take possession of their land, vulnerable to attacks by the "hired thugs," Okey Igwebueze, a claimant, told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday.

Mr. Igwebueze said that after the police and bailiffs left the premises of the estate where they had gone to enforce the verdict, officials from the ENL Consortium and the Federal Housing Authority mobilized more than 50 thugs with machetes to chase the original beneficiaries from the premises.

“A technician we hired to fix the padlocks on the property was attacked by the thugs who were brought in by ENL Consortium Limited and FHA officials. The technician was hospitalized,” Mr. Okey recounted .

Speaking on the phone on behalf of his colleagues, Mr Igwebueze blamed FCT minister Muhammad Bello for allegedly asking the FCT police commissioner to withdraw his men from the enforcement exercise.

But, ENL Consortium Limited denied the allegations, saying the judgment enforcement exercise was unlawful as “the action is pending before the Supreme Court”.

Reacting to the allegations in a telephone interview with this reporter on Monday, ENL Consortium General Counsel Olusola Dada said his company did not sue the beneficiaries with thugs.

Mr. Dada explained that the police only withdrew when they learned that "the judgment execution exercise was wrong because the case is pending before the Supreme Court".

He noted that efforts were being made to reallocate another plot of land to the beneficiaries, adding that the FCT Minister would meet with all parties involved in the dispute.

But the FCT Minister's spokesman, Abubakar Sani, did not respond to phone calls and a text message sent to him seeking clarification on the matter.

'Why we embarked on enforcing the Court of Appeal's decision

Recipients said enforcement of the Court of Appeal's judgment became the only option after the Supreme Court overturned both ENL Consortium Limited's Appeal No. SC.9/2018 and appeal no. SC.613/2018 of the Federal Housing Authority. .

The Supreme Court on June 6, 2018 in chambers ruling by Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, John Inyang Okoro, Chima Centus Nweze and Sidi Dauda Bage struck out the appeal ENL Consortium Limited n° SC.9/ 2018.

Mr. Rhodes-Vivour (now retired) who read the main judgment declared "Appeal struck out", without giving a reason.

The Federal Housing Authority had also, on June 6, 2018, asked the Supreme Court for an extension of time to seek leave to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

He urged the court to ''grant the request for a stay of execution of the judgment of the Court of Appeal rendered on May 18, 2017 pending the decision on the request or, in the event of success of the application, pending the decision on the appeal arising from the application.

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However, on March 1, 2022, the Federal Housing Authority requested the withdrawal of its application/appeal no. SC.613/2018, and was therefore struck off.

In the main judgment delivered by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, the Supreme Court said: "It is...