A Lagos State High Court sitting in Yaba has restrained the Lagos State Government and four other defendants from taking possession of or interfering with a disputed property belonging to an 80-year-old widow in Lekki Peninsula Scheme I, pending the determination of a motion on notice.
Justice E.O. Ashade granted the interim injunction in favour of Chief H.A.K. Shonowo, who instituted the suit on behalf of herself and the estate of her late husband, Chief Owodiran Olusoga Shonowo.
The defendants in the case are the Lagos State Government, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Gary Sanusi and Dillon Consultants Nigeria Limited.
The claimant, represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Babatunde Oni, urged the court to preserve the property, arguing that the defendants’ actions had caused her hardship and threatened her ownership rights.
The disputed property comprises 11 four-bedroom terrace houses, three three-bedroom flats, one two-bedroom flat and a commercial shop built on about 4,000/4,300 square metres of land located at Block 113, Plot Health Centre, Lekki Peninsula Scheme I, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.
In his ruling, Justice Ashade held that the claimant had established sufficient grounds for the grant of the interim order.
The court noted that parties involved in a pending case must refrain from taking actions capable of affecting the court’s jurisdiction or prejudicing the outcome of the matter.
Consequently, the judge restrained the defendants, their agents, representatives or privies from taking possession of, transferring, reassigning or interfering with the claimant’s possession and ownership rights over the property pending the hearing of the motion on notice.
The court also barred the fourth and fifth defendants from handing over the disputed property to any other person until the application before the court is determined.
As part of the conditions attached to the injunction, the court directed the claimant to file an undertaking in the sum of N1 million to indemnify the defendants should it later be established that the interim order ought not to have been granted.
Court documents revealed that the claimant and her late husband were jointly allocated the original parcel of land measuring about 7,312.865 square metres in 1996 under a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Lagos State Government.
According to the claimant, the government revoked the Certificate of Occupancy in October 2020 but later reallocated about 4,000 square metres of the land to her in May 2021 following an appeal. A subsequent survey reportedly placed the land size at approximately 4,300 square metres.
She stated that she thereafter entered into a joint venture agreement with the fourth and fifth defendants to develop the property.
Under the agreement, the developers were expected to construct 22 four-bedroom terrace houses, six three-bedroom flats and two two-bedroom flats, with the claimant entitled to 11 terrace houses, three flats, one two-bedroom apartment and a commercial shop.
The widow alleged that although construction commenced in 2021 and her allocated units were expected to be delivered by August 2023, the developers repeatedly failed to hand over the completed properties despite several demands.
She further claimed that in March 2026 she was informed through WhatsApp that the Lagos State Government intended to take over the reallocated land.
The claimant insisted she had no contractual relationship with the Lagos State Government, the Attorney-General or the Governor, maintaining that her agreement was solely with the private developers.
Justice Ashade adjourned the case until July 9, 2026, for the hearing of the motion on notice.
