Olalekan Festus Ojo, counsel for the family of E. J. Alex Kehinde Taylor, has raised the alarm over an alleged attempt by the Lagos State government to forcefully take over a landed property belonging to the Taylor family.
He said the state’s Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers, through the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, on December 13, 2019, realised that the property genuinely belongs to his client. According to him, the task force subsequently executed the Terms of Settlement with his clients and thereafter handed the property back to his clients.
The lawyer raised the alarm in a statement made available to SaharaReporters.
It was gathered that Kehinde Taylor's family in 1938, leased a portion of the property to the Federal Government of Nigeria for the purpose of its Cocoa Regeneration Plant. It was also leased to John Holt who built factory warehouses during the pendency of their lease.
The family was said to have insured their industrial warehouse complex against the risks of fire and special perils which include explosion, earthquake, hurricane or cyclone, riot and strike, etc. through Hogg Robinson Limited with a panel of underwriters including Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc with policy no P/IAR/15/LAG/TDS00011.
The statement, therefore, called on the Lagos State Government to respect the rule of law and await the outcome of matters pending before both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, before taking any further step in respect of the property.
The statement read in part, "Furthermore, our Clients have filed an action dated 17th August 2022 in Suit No. ID/13980MFHR/2022 between Segun Kehinde Taylor and Anor vs The Lagos State Government and Ors at the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja Judicial Division to set aside the Notice of Revocation dated 18th May 2020.
"In Suit No. ID/11327LMM/22: Alhaji Shittu Adio Kassim Lumosa and Ors v. the Governor of Lagos State and Ors also pending at the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja Judicial Division, we conducted a court search and discovered that the Lagos State Government obtained an injunction on 20th September 2022 against our Clients and others.
"We have appealed against the ruling of the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja Judicial Division delivered per the Honourable Justice RIB Adebiyi and filed a Stay of Proceedings against the matter at the High Court.
"As a responsible and law-abiding government, the proper step for the Lagos State Government to take, having been served with the Consent Judgement, Notice of Appeal, and Application for stay of execution is to stay action and await the outcome of the matters in Suit No. ID/13980MFHR/2022 & Suit No. ID/11327LMM/22 and not to attempt to enforce a Notice of Revocation which is still a subject of litigation or a ruling of 20th September 2022 which is now a subject of appeal, with an extant application of stay pending against it.
"Finally, it is undisputable that the Lagos State Government is the owner and custodian of the Lands Registry in Alausa, which is the only place where registered land titles and ownership transfers can, by law, be verified, ascertained and confirmed by the whole world.
"It is however noteworthy that our Clients are still shown as the bona fide owners of the subject property in the records of the Land Registry of Lagos State, to date, without any caveat or counter instrument denoting a charge or encumbrance on their title to the subject property. Therefore, it behoves the Lagos State Government officials to eschew impunity and arbitrariness in dealing with such a sensitive matter that borders on constitutionally ordained property rights of citizens.
"We called on the Lagos State Government to respect the rule of law and await the outcome of the foregoing matters pending in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, before taking any further step in respect of the property."