Court slams N1m damages against Delta lawmaker over land trespasses

By Ovasa Ogaga

A High Court, Effurun division in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, presided over by Justice G. E. Gbemre, on Wednesday awarded N1m damages against the Delta lawmaker, Hon. Michael Diden (Alias Ejele), member of Delta State House of Assembly, representing Warri North constituency over unlawful trespassed.

The lawmaker unlawfully trespassed into a 100X100 landed property located along new Ogorode road (opposite Apollo Presidential Hotel), Sapele, Delta State, belonging to a property management company in the area, Assets Development and Management Company Ltd (ADAMCO) and its Chairman, Mr. Chadwick Akpurie.

The judge has, while delivering Judgment on suit number S/70/2008, in which the lawmaker is the defendant, affirmed that, “the claimant (Chadwick Akpurhie) is entitled to the statutory right of occupancy of the land measuring 943.360 square metres (approximately 100X100) which survey plan number is VPSDT06194, with beacon number DTD7540, DTD7541, DTD7542 and DTD7543.”

He further granted the claimant’s prayer for “an order of the court compelling the defendant (Michael Diden) by himself, agents, servants or privies from trespassing or further trespassing into the land and to remove from the claimant’s land the block fence and the building constructed in the land.”

Earlier, counsel to the claimant, Mr. Peter Obiagba had told the court that “The defendant had on the weekend of 22/6/2008, chased the claimant out of the land and after refusing police directive to restore it back to him, he went ahead and erected a block fence and a building on it and has since then taken unlawful possession of the property and, in-spite of the court’s leniency,  the defendant had used different tactics including requesting for unnecessary adjournments, which unnecessarily prolonged the case for over eight years.”

Although the lawmaker was absent when judgment was delivered yesterday, however, his counsel, Mr. J. Sagay who entered the court midway into the judgment did not object to it.