Otodo Gbame: Court Postpones Judgment

Justice Surajudeen Onigbanjo of a Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, has postponed judgment in a suit between Otodo Gbame waterfront residents whose houses were demolished and the Lagos State government. The two parties were given 14days to file and respond to written addresses on the issue of the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned till May 25 for judgment.

The suit was instituted by 33 applicants suing on behalf of themselves and other residents of settlements, including Otodo Gbame, Tomaro, Otumara, Orisunmibare, Oko Agbon, Itun Atan, Sogunro, the Ikorodu communities of Ofin, Bayeku and Olufunke Majidun and the Bariga communities of Ago Egun and Ebute-Ilaje.

The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State governor and the Commissioner of Police are the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.

“While I was going through the court processes, I discovered that issues of jurisdiction were raised,” the judge said. “These issues ought to be addressed.”

“The applicant will have seven days to file their relevant court processes while the respondents also have seven days to file their court processes in response to the applicant,” the judge said.

The applicants, through their counsel, Friday Oteiku, are seeking a declaration, among others, that they are the first settlers on the land and are lawful residents of the communities.

But according to the defence counsel and Lagos State Director of Civil Litigation, S. A. Quadri, the claimants had no title to the land whatsoever.

On April 12, Justice Onigbanjo dismissed the plaintiff’s application seeking the respondents’ committal to prison for contempt.