A group of investors under the auspices of Foreign Investors Network of Nigeria has filed a suit against the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, and HITECH Construction Company, seeking $250 million in damages.
The landowners asked a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, to restrain the Federal Government and its contractors from demolishing an 18.8-hectare estate at Okun-Ajah, Eti-Osa, for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project.
The plaintiff, in a 15-page document obtained by TRIBUNE ONLINE, claims that the defendants failed to follow due process in realigning the road, which now conflicts with their developed estate, Winhomes Global Services Estate.
According to the plaintiff, “at no time was it issued with any statutory notice, demolition order, or opportunity to be heard,” adding that the actions of the defendants constitute a “gross violation of the Plaintiff’s constitutional rights as enshrined in Sections 36 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
The plaintiff’s counsel, Valerian Nadike, argued that “no notice or hearing was afforded prior to the commencement of the destructive markings on its property,” adding that such omission violates the principle of audi alteram partem and fundamental human rights.
“The attempted demolition of the Plaintiff’s estate without a lawful acquisition process, valid gazette, or compensation, amounts to executive lawlessness,” Nadike stated, citing Ojukwu v. Governor of Lagos State (1986) as authority.
“No state authority, no matter how well-intentioned, can ride roughshod over constitutional rights.”
The plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the actions of the defendants in “marking for destruction and demolition the Plaintiff’s property without recourse to any legal or lawful basis is illegal, null and void.”
The court has yet to fix a date for hearing, but the defendants have 30 days to file their appearance and response. Nadike submitted that “this matter raises fundamental questions about how far the government can go in executing infrastructure without trampling on the rights of citizens and law-abiding companies. If such actions go unchecked, they set a dangerous precedent.
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