The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has been ordered by a Lagos High Court to evacuate a disputed property in Victory Park Estate, Osapa, Lekki Peninsula, Lagos State, for its rightful owner, Mr. Temilola Okesanjo.
Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi, in a suit marked LD/2801LM/2020, declared the claimant’s title to the property covered by Deed of Assignment entered as instrument No. 57 on Page 57 in Volume 2150 of Deeds Register at the Land Registry Office of Alausa, Ikeja, ss legitimate and subsisting.
The claimant, Okesanjo, had sued AMCON and the Registrar of Titles in Lagos State, asking the court for a perpetual injunction prohibiting AMCON or its agents, privies, or any person acting on its behalf from entering into or taking possession of the property in any manner that would conflict with the claimant’s proprietary interest.
The claimant further asked the court for a mandatory injunction for the first defendant (AMCON) to evacuate its agents, servants, and armed security guards, as well as remove its signpost and banner from the land.
AMCON, on the other hand, claimed that the suit constituted an abuse of court processes because the claimant had filed suits tagged LD/2667LM/2020 and LD/3165LM/2021 against it.
Justice Ogunjobi awarded reliefs one to four and nine to eleven in the claimant’s originating summons in his judgment delivered on October 26, 2022.
The court determined that the claimant’s uncontroverted averment was that he purchased the contested property from Knight Rook Limited in 2003 and registered its title in November 2006.
The claimant’s Deed of Assignment was considered by the court to be prima facie proof that Knight Rook Limited had diverted its interest in the land to the claimant.
According to the order, the court “needs not directly mention the claimant’s title for the judgment to apply to the land being claimed by the claimants, provided the land constitutes part of Knight Rook Limited’s immovable property as of the date of the judgment,” the court held.
The judge ruled that the claimant’s uncontroverted averment was that he purchased the land from Knight Rook Limited in 2003 and registered his ownership in November 2006. The deed of assignment between Knight Rook Limited and the claimant is Exhibit JP1.
The judge stated that the deed, which is registered as instrument No. 57/57 in volume 2150 at the Lagos Land Registry, is prima facie evidence that Knight Rook Limited diverted its interest in the land to the claimant.
On the question of whether the Deed of Assignment completed in favor of the claimant regarding Block F Plot 18 by persons without lawful power is valid, the court determined that AMCON failed to prove that the signatories to Exhibit 1 were not authorized by Knight Rook Limited.
However, the court denied the claimant’s request for N50 million in trespass damages.
