The Nation Newspaper

Tag: property

  • Police chief risks contempt over invasion of property

    A traditional ruler and businessman, Chief Moroof Owoola has accused the police of unlawful invasion of his property at Oke Ira Nla area of Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The police action,he claimed, violated  a perpetual order issued by a Lagos High Court, Ikeja,restraining the police from invading the property.

    He said that  police operatives led by  Superintendent of Police, Stephen Ogbaje, stormed the  property at about 4 pm on Tuesday August 18, 2015; “harassed my workers and destroyed building materials at the site. They also arrested my brother, Idowu Jimoh, and seized some handsets and communication gadgets belonging to those working at the site despite a subsisting perpetual injunction against the Inspector General of Police and his men.”

    He said the court order given by Justice Lateefat Okunnu on May 25, 2015, was served on the office of the IGP and Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad (FEDSARS) Abuja as well as Lagos police commissioner, Area Commander of Area J, Ajah; Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Langbasa Police Division; General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division of Nigeria Army, Lagos and Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Lagos.

    “ I was therefore shocked that the police ignored the ruling and perpetrate illegality by invading my property. The actions of the IGP and his men are contemptuous in this regard and I won’t take it easy on this matter,” he said.

    Justice Okunnu had  berated the police for dabbling into a purely civil matter.

    The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, failed  to respond to enquiries by our correspondent at press time.

  • Police chief risks contempt over invasion of property

    A traditional ruler and businessman, Chief Moroof Owoola has accused the police of unlawful invasion of his property at Oke Ira Nla area of Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The police action,he claimed, violated  a perpetual order issued by a Lagos High Court, Ikeja,restraining the police from invading the property.

    He said that  police operatives led by  Superintendent of Police, Stephen Ogbaje, stormed the  property at about 4 pm on Tuesday August 18, 2015; “harassed my workers and destroyed building materials at the site. They also arrested my brother, Idowu Jimoh, and seized some handsets and communication gadgets belonging to those working at the site despite a subsisting perpetual injunction against the Inspector General of Police and his men.”

    He said the court order given by Justice Lateefat Okunnu on May 25, 2015, was served on the office of the IGP and Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad (FEDSARS) Abuja as well as Lagos police commissioner, Area Commander of Area J, Ajah; Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Langbasa Police Division; General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division of Nigeria Army, Lagos and Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Lagos.

    “ I was therefore shocked that the police ignored the ruling and perpetrate illegality by invading my property. The actions of the IGP and his men are contemptuous in this regard and I won’t take it easy on this matter,” he said.

    Justice Okunnu had  berated the police for dabbling into a purely civil matter.

    The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, failed  to respond to enquiries by our correspondent at press time.

     

  • N50m property destroy in Ondo market fire

    GOODS worth N50 million were destroyed during an inferno, which gutted Lennon Jubilee Shopping Complex at Ikare-Akoko, headquarters of Akoko Northeast Local Government in Ondo State.

    Witness said the inferno razed about 10 shops.

    The shops were said to have been stocked with expensive textile materials, wears, computer sets, accessories and substantial amounts of cash.

    One of the victims, Mrs. Mary Olaniyan, who lamented her lost to the fire, stressed that her life depended on the burnt shop.

    The trader urged the state government and wealthy Nigerians to assist the victims.

    Efforts to speak with senior fire officer in Ikare-Akoko were futile, but a source linked the inferno to electricity spark.

    A community leader, John Fatola, noted that “Ikare-Akoko needs fervent prayers to ward off evil machinations”.

    He said the commercial town had witnessed a bloody bank robbery, which claimed about 25 lives.

    Fotola said the development has brought untold hardship to its residents while economic activities were on zero level because of the attack.

    The Chairman of Akoko Northeast Local Government, Alhaji Azeez Almam, visited the affected traders to sympathise with them.

    He urged them to always put off electricity before going home.

    The Iyalaje of Ikareland, Mrs. Risikatu Mohammed, who was accompanied by Iyaloja of Iboropa, Mrs. Iyabo Alo, visited the scene of the fire incident and urged well-meaning citizens to assist the victims.

     

  • Ondo introduces new property ownership scheme

    Property owners in Ondo State can now obtain titles for a minimum fee of N15,000 and maximum of N25,000, with the processing and delivery period of the certificates pegged at eight weeks.

    Giving details of the new deal at a Stakeholders meeting in his office on Friday, the state Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, said the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in the state will be done within eight weeks for N25,000 in urban areas, maximum of N20,000 in semi-urban areas and a maximum of N15,000 in the rural areas of the state.

    He said the package is as a result of government’s digitalised C-of-O scheme, which he flagged off on Thursday, with some beneficiaries presented with their certificates.

    The Governor said  the new digitalised scheme will eradicate fraud and unnecessary gatekeeper or agents, adding  that the new systemic titling of land registration is a way of moving away from the old order and a surefooted step to move the state forward.

  • Court rules on property suit Friday

    The execution of a judgment delivered by Justice Ayotunde Phillips seven years ago has become the subject of another litigation in the High Court of Lagos state, reports ADEBISI ONANUGA

    A Lagos High court sitting in Ikeja will on Friday rule whether or not it has jurisdiction to stay a writ of execution obtained by a judgment-debtor, Jagal Nigeria Limited in respect of a property.

    Seven years ago,  Justice Ayotunde Phillips, then a judge of the High Court of Lagos State, had in a judgment delivered on July 11, 2008  in a suit delineated ID/1466/98 affirmed Jagal as the owner of the  property located at Plot B, Ikosi Road, Oregun Industrial Estate, Ikeja .

    Johnson Products had dragged Jagal Nigeria Limited before the court  over the ownership of the  disputed property. Joined as second defendant in the suit is Chief Samuel Agboola Akintan, who is said to have earlier leased the property to Wire Manufacturing (Nigeria) Limited for 20 years, having had a Deed of Conveyance dated 1971.

    The company had averred that a Memorandum of Agreement executed by the two parties on  April 17, 1980 “effectively transferred Jagal’s interest in the property” to it upon the payment of N1, 340,000 and that  Jagal issued a receipt No.1351 dated  June 2, 1982, which  stated that the payment is for the assignment of the property in question.                                                                        Johnson Products had further averred that Jagal acknowledged its (Johnson Products) ownership of the property in a letter addressed to Ault and Wilborg (Nig) Limited.

    But Justice Phillips, in her judgment delivered on July 11, 2008  held that the Memorandum of Agreement transferred no interest in the property to Johnson Products and  affirmed Jagal as the owner of the property.

    Not satisfied with the decision of the court, Johnson Products Limited, appealed against the judgment on  July 16, 2008 and claimed to have filed its Brief of Argument as at December 8, 2010.

    However, the matter assumed a new dimension in February 2015 when the matter slated for hearing  by Appeal Court, was struck out for want of diligent prosecution.

    Johnson Products claimed to have re-approached the appellate court, asking the matter to be relisted but while the process was ongoing, the defendant (Jagal Nigeria Limited) obtained a Writ of Possession of the court to effect the judgment of Justice Philips against Johnson Products which also affected some inter pleaders.

    The development made Johnson Products Nigeria Limited to  approach the court presided by Justice Olabisi Odugbesan , praying it to restore them to status quo ante as at April 29, 2015, pending the hearing and determination of its application for re-listing in the Court of Appeal.

    During  the  sitting of the court, the applicant through its counsel, Gabriel Olawoyin (SAN) had told the court that the order of the Court of Appeal upon which the writ of execution was predicated was obtained by deceit. He contended that the defendant mislead the court  on the matter.

    He argued that as at the time the defendants rushed to obtain the writ of execution, they  already had applications seeking for re-listing of their appeal before the Court of Appeal.                                                       The defendants, according to him, were duly served with copies of the application and that they duly acknowledge receipt of the documents. “We have three applications, including brief of argument, pending before the Court of Appeal and they filed a counter to every application, which means they have been served”.

    He had pleaded with the court that since the averments were not controverted  by the defendants in any way, they should be taken as the true positions of things.

    But the defendant’s counsel, Qudus Mumuney, had opposed the application on the grounds that the prayers of the applicants had no basis in law.

    Mumuni contended that the issue before the court was not only the proceedings of February 5, 2015 when the Court of Appeal struck out the appeal of the appellant but the entire proceeding which dated back to 2009.                                                                                                                                                                            He described the application filed by the applicants as an invitation to review the order of the Court of Appeal, adding that it would amount to calamity of the jurisprudence when a lower court would sit to review the order of a superior court.

    Mumuni however maintained that the court has no jurisdiction to entertain the application and that the court should throw out the application which he described as abuse of court process.

    But Olawoyin had insisted on the jurisdiction of the court not only to grant the prayers of the applicants but also to stay the writ of execution obtained in respect of the disputed property.

    Olawoyin had also contended that the issue before the court was the writ of execution for which they are praying the court to set aside pending the determination of their application for re-listing of their appeal against the judgment of Justice Ayotunde Phillips, now a retired Chief Judge of Lagos State, which in 2008 granted possession of the disputed  property located in  Oregun Industrial Estate, Ikeja to Jagal Nigeria Limited.

  • Femi Solebo loses property to fire

    Femi Solebo loses property to fire

    Femi Solebo, husband of one of the fine flowers of high society, Sandra Solebo, is currently in a sad mood. The Notore-fertiliser top shot plunged into melancholy when a mysterious fire gutted his home on Ben Okagbue Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos recently.

    We gathered that the fire might have been caused by power surge on one of the rare times that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) supplied electricity. ‎The inferno, which lasted just over one hour, destroyed so many valuables in the building, leaving Femi to count his losses.

    An inside account said the inability of the fire service to respond promptly to the distress call compounded matters. Although he is saddened by the incident, the popular Lagos socialite and man-Friday of Jite Okoloko says he is glad no life was lost.

  • Journal on business and property makes a fresh comeback

    The Gravitas Review of Business and Property Law, has hit the news stand again after 22 years of being out of circulation.

    The journal, which was first published in 1988, was forced to suspend publication as a result of the socio-economic crisis of 1993.

    Addressing a press conference in Lagos last week, its Managing Editor and Chief Executive, Gravitas Legal and Business Resources Limited, Moshood Shehu, told journalists that the journal, which was initially a bi-monthly publication, would now be published quarterly, adding that the new publication came back well packaged than what it used to be 22 years ago.

    Shehu said the publication would be a platform for robust and in-depth analysis of business and legal issues by experienced practitioners and academics.

    He said the journal would be a resource material to practitioners, businessmen and students of law as it would publish well researched and peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of business and property law including on energy, international finance and transactions, economic crimes and sanctions, capital market and securities, maritime, taxation, project finance, land transactions and intellectual property, tourism and travel law, project finance, arbitration law, labour law, mining law, consumer protection law, estate, wills, trust and their administration, among others.

    According to him, the journal would serve as a permanent archive for lecturers and researchers as it would contain their works and business articles by legal luminaries including those of Prof, Yemi Osinbajo, Prof Akin Ibidapo-Obe, Prof. Akin Oyebode among others.

    He said articles  would also be sourced from other jurisdiction to engender international comparison and distillation of practices.

    Shehu disclosed that the publication would also be online full time, on stream as from next month for sale of digital copies to willing corporate bodies and other customers in line with technological trend.

  • Irish petitions IGP over police part in demolition of property

    Irish petitions IGP over police part in demolition of property

    •Petitioner angry over flouted court order

    The Irish national whose property was demolished at the weekend by officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), in alleged violation of a court order, has petitioned Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

    The Irish accused the police of colluding with the FCDA to subvert a court order.

    A petition on his behalf by Chris Ezugwu of Ivory Chambers, Abuja, accused Chief Emeka Offor, the owner of Chrome Oil Services Limited, one of the parties in the suit before the court, of using the police and other security agencies to aid their disobedience of a court order.

    The petitioner said the court had stopped the demolition of the two property at Plot 4072, Maitama, Abuja.

    The petition, which was submitted to the Central Mail Collection Office at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, was copied to President Goodluck Jonathan, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief Justice of the Federation and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

    The Nation, in its Monday edition, reported the demolition of the property by officials of three agencies of the FCT – the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Abuja Metropolitan Management Agency (AMMA) and the Department of Development Control (DDC).

    They were allegedly aided by policemen, on Friday, to demolish two houses belonging to some non-Nigerians at Maitama.

    The FCT officials, allegedly instigated by Chrome Oil Services Limited, owned by a businessman, Emeka Offor, were said to have shunned entreaties by owners  of the structures, mostly Irish nationals, that the dispute between Chrome and Micad Project City Services Limited, in respect of the land on which the property were erected, was still pending in court.

    But in the petition to the acting IGP, Micad Project City Services Limited, through its lawyer, said while it was not unaware of the fact that the court had the capacity to deal with disobedience of court orders, it was the height of “rascality” for the police to refuse to prevent a clear violation of a court order, but rather actively assist in subverting it.

    The petition reads: “We write as counsel to Micad Project City Services Limited to protest in very strong terms the illegal and wanton use of men of the Nigeria Police by Chrome Oil Services Limited to carry out the barbaric demolition of our client’s property at Plot 4072 Maitama, Abuja, in flagrant violation of a subsisting order of injunction duly made by the High Court of Justice of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    “On March 11, Chrome Oil Services Limited, accompanied by thugs, police, net and bulldozers invaded Plot 4072, Maitama and started the demolition of two massive commercial buildings built by our clients, Micad Project City Services Limited, purporting that the plot of land belongs to Chrome Oil Services Limited.

    “Left with no other civilised option, Micad Project City Services Limited instituted an action at the High Court of Justice of the Federal Capital Territory, …pursuant to which the court presided over by Hon. Justice Bello Kawu made an order and privies from further trespassing on the property and from carrying out any further demolition of the property pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutors injunction filed in the matter.

    “When the matter came up on April 20, the motion for interlocutory injunction was adjourned till May 11, on the mutual agreement of the parties, including Chrome Oil Services Limited and her counsel…

    “But a most bizarre and crude display of power and utter disregard of the court, Chrome Oil Services Limited on May 1, 2015, accompanied by a retinue of Mobile Police Unit 21, Nyanya, Abujaa no members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) invaded Plot 4072, Maitama, Abuja, with bulldozers and resumed the demotion of the building therein even when the order of injunction is still subsisting and motion for interlocutors injunction is still pending.

    “All the entreaties by our client to the mobile policemen who concealed their identities with sweaters that they were being used to violate a subsisting order of court fell on deaf ear even after the court order was shown to them.

    “Curiously, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Maitama Police station where the barbaric act was promptly reported decline to intervene in the matter on the ground that the police does not get involved in matters that are pending in court.

    “Yet, heavily armed policemen with full compliments of a police van and other security gadgets were stationed right inside plot 4072, Maitama, Abuja on 1st, 2nd and 3rd May, 2015 which were public holidays to supervise the illegal demolition of the property.

    “Even when the police were reminded of the consequences of their illegal mission, the boasted that nothing will happen to them even if they killed in the process because according to them, the Chairman of Chrome Oil Services Limited is connected to the highest level of government, the police high command and other security agencies.

    “While we concede that the issue or the flagrant disobedience of the order of court is for the court itself to deal with, it is the height of unacceptable rascality and impunity for the police, not only to refuse to act to prevent the clear violation of a court order, but indeed to participate actively in the subversion of a legitimate and subsisting order of court.

    “It is indeed a national shame that armed policemen operating with the full compliment of police official vehicles and gadgets would lend the name and integrity of the Nigeria a Police to this charade and the deliberate mockery of the courts simply because they have been compromised by a certain “big man” who they claim control the government, the police and other security a agencies.

    “We do not believe, Sir, that in engaging in the brazen subversion if the order of the court, these policemen were a tag with the lawful consent and authority of your office or any police formation for that matter.

    “While the property of our client may have re totally demolished by the time you receive this letter, we condemn the criminal complicity of the police in the circumstances and urge you, sir, to disallow in clear terms the further use or rather misuse of the Nigeria police by Chrome Oil Services Limited to intimidate our clients or occupy, or probably develop albeit illegally, the property situated at plot 4972, Maitama, A06, Abuja which is subject of litigation. Let the court be allowed to do its job”.

     

  • General Electric to sell $26.5b property portfolio

    General Electric to sell $26.5b property portfolio

    General Electric (GE) has announced it will sell nearly all of its property portfolio, worth $26.5billiosn, to funds including Wells Fargo and Blackstone.

    The sale is the biggest commercial property deal in the US since 2007.

    GE has been retreating from its property investments globally as it focuses on its industrial operations.

    Without its properties, the company says it expects its other, “high-value” operations to bring in 90 per cent of earnings by 2018.

    The plan allows GE to buy back nearly two billion of its outstanding shares. A further $4billion of commercial real estate assets will be sold to other buyers.

    GE said it hoped the divestment would make it a “simpler, more valuable” company.

    Chairman Jeff Immelt said: “This is a major step in our strategy to focus GE around its competitive advantages.”

    The US-based company’s operations include energy management, aviation and transportation.

  • Isreali property firm posts big Q4 loss

    Israeli real estate developer Africa Israel Investments posted a huge loss in the fourth quarter due to a revaluation of real estate projects at its Russian unit, AFI Development.

    The company said it had a net loss of 851 million shekels ($214 million) in the quarter, compared with a profit of three million a year earlier. The loss from a revaluation of investment property at AFI Development, a Russian real estate developer, totalled $220 million in the quarter.

    Revenue in the quarter slipped to 1.37 billion shekels from 1.64 billion a year earlier.

    “The challenging situation in Russia … negatively impacted the value of real estate assets of subsidiary AFI Development,” Chief Executive Avraham Novogrocki said. “The geopolitical situation is the main reason for this year’s loss.”

    One of AFI Development’s key assets is the Afimall City shopping centre in Moscow.

    In December Africa Israel, controlled by billionaire diamond dealer Lev Leviev, said the crisis in Russia and the sharp depreciation in the rouble would likely hurt its business in Russia.