Kandix Limited & Anor V. Attorney-general & Commissioner For Justice, Cross River State & Anor (2010)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

KUMAI BAYANG AKAAHS, J.C.A (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The Plaintiffs now Appellants took out an Originating Summons in Suit No. HC/370/2007 seeking a determination of the following questions:

1. Whether the publication of the purported revocation notice in the Nigerian Chronicle of 24th January to 28th January, 2002 complied with the mandatory requirement of personal service of the notice as provided in the Land Use Act.
2. Whether the Defendants have power of (sic) legal authority to revoke plaintiff (sic) title for extension of Calabar Free Trade Zone and allocate the said land to their cronies for their personal use.
3. Whether the action of the defendants did not violate the plaintiffs constitutional right as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. The Plaintiffs then sought the following reliefs:

a) A declaration that the Plaintiff’s are entitled to personal service and notice of the said revocation of their title.

b) A declaration that the defendants have no power or right to revoke their title on the property lying and situate at Northern Industrial Estate, Esuk Utan, Calabar covered by Certificate of Occupancy No. CA/3560/90 and registered as No. 3 at page 3 in volume 9 of Lands Registry Office, Calabar and re-allocate same to cronies and friends.

c) An order setting aside the so-called revocation of plaintiffs title published in the Chronicle of 24th January to 28th January, 2002 for being void.

d) An order directing the Registrar of Deeds in the Calabar Lands Registry to remove the notification of the alleged revocation.

e) An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, allottees from trespassing or further trespassing onto the plaintiff (sic) land lying and situate on Northern Industrial Estate, Esuk Utan, Calabar, measuring approximately 2.219 hectares and registered as No. 3 at page 3 in Volume 9 Lands Registry, Calabar and covered by Certificate of Occupancy No. CA/3560/90.

In the affidavit in support of the summons deposed to by Ephraim S. Akpan upon facts made available by the 2nd Plaintiff who is the Chairman of Kandix Limited, it was averred in paragraph 2 as follows:

“2(d) That he immediately put up a fence to secure the land and constructed a factory thereon.

(e) That he obtained a loan of N200 million to import machineries from Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry. The building and machines were mortgage (sic) for N200 million loan and registered as No. 34 at page 34 in Volume 32.

(f) That the factory had been producing and managed to pay off the loan and interest amounting to N540 million resulting in the title deed being released on the 21st September 2006 and registered as No. 36 at page 36 in Volume 102.

(g) That it was during the registration of the deed of release that the plaintiffs were told that their title had been revoked vide Nigerian Chronicle of 24th January to 28th January, 2002.

(h) That no notice of revocation was served on them or pasted in the factory.

(i) That on the 30th April, 2007, some unknown persons broke down parts of the plaintiff fence and drove workers out of the factory and claimed that the whole land had been reallocated following the revocation order. Annexed hereto as Exh ‘B’ is the Chronicle publication.