Provost Lagos State College Of Education & Ors. V. Dr. Kolawole Edun & Ors (2004)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

IGUH, J.S.C. 

The proceedings leading to this appeal were first initiated in the High Court of Lagos State, holden at Ikeja. In that court, the plaintiffs claimed against the defendants as follows: –

“(i) N250, 000.00 special damages for unlawful destruction of structures and loss of properties as listed in paragraphs 20 and 21 above

(ii) N500,000.00 general damages for trespass.

(iii) A declaration that the plaintiffs were in lawful occupation of the said premises.

(iv) Costs.

(v) Further or other reliefs.”

Pleadings were ordered in the suit and were duly settled, filed and exchanged.

At the subsequent trial, both parties testified on their own behalf but called no witnesses.

The case of the plaintiffs is that they carried poultry business under the partnership name of Four Pillars (Nigeria) Associates at Kilometre 30, Oto Awori, Badagry Expressway, Lagos State on a piece or parcel of land acquired by the 1st plaintiff on the 13th day of January, 1972 from the Owokulehin-Idumosi family who are the undisputed radical owners of the land. No registered deed of lease or conveyance was executed by the parties in respect of this grant although the said family land owners issued a receipt to the 1st plaintiff in acknowledgement of his payment of the sum of E2,500.00 (Two thousand five hundred pounds only) to them as rent for “one acre plot situated at Oto-Awori for the years 1971 – 2031 (Fifty years)”. This receipt was tendered and received in evidence at the trial as exhibit 1. It is the plaintiffs` case that the 1st plaintiff went into immediate physical possession of this land on his acquisition of the said land. Along with the other plaintiffs, they also developed the property as a poultry farm and had at all material times run his poultry farm without interruption from any quarters. The plaintiffs gave copious evidence of what they established on this land which is now in dispute. These included the construction of two houses and four poultry sheds with thousands of layers and chicks. They also sank two bore holes on the land and. installed several air conditioners, deep freezers and various other properties which they carefully pleaded in paragraphs 20 and 21 of their statement of claim.

The plaintiffs stated that in 1982, the Lagos State College of Education moved into their said property, claiming title thereto by virtue of some acquisition notice. The defendants on finding the plaintiffs’ poultry farm on the land in dispute issued encroachment notices against the plaintiffs. As a result, the plaintiffs petitioned the Government of Lagos State per exhibits 5, 5A and 6A. In the meantime, the defendants’ agents carried out a valuation of the plaintiffs’ poultry farm which they assessed at N48,900.00. About the month of June, 1982, agents of the 1st defendant fenced in the plaintiffs’ farm, describing the same as part of Lagos State, College of Education. They thereby denied the plaintiffs right of access to their poultry farm. The plaintiffs further claimed that the defendants and their agents proceeded to demolish all the structures and property of the plaintiffs on the farm which they valued at N250,000.00 hence this action.

The defendants, for their part, admitted that the land in dispute originally belonged to the Owokulehin-Idumosi family but claimed that the Lagos State Government on the 12th September, 1972 acquired the same from the family for public purpose. This notice of acquisition was published in the official gazette of 16th November, 1972. They claimed that the land was allocated to the Lagos State College of Education for its permanent site. Sometimes in January, 1982, the College of Education moved into possession of the land preparatory to developing it and found poultry farm and two buildings of three rooms erected by the plaintiffs thereon. The defendants then caused contravention and demolition notices to be served on the plaintiffs’. They claimed that when the plaintiffs failed to comply with the said notices, the defendants demolished plaintiff’s structures on the farm.

At the conclusion of hearing, the learned trial Judge, Longe, J. after a review of the evidence on the 17th January, 1995 dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims in their entirety. He stated as follows:-

“Having failed on title or possession, I do not consider it necessary to review or consider the other claims of the plaintiffs. Such claims are predicated on their success for title or possession and having been warned by duly issued notices to remove the structures, their claims on them can not succeed.