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By Christopher Oji
The 35-year-old legal battle over the ownership of a vast expanse of land, covering 11.370 hectares in the Igbo Esinsin, Ologunebi village in the Alimosho area of Lagos State was on Friday finally settled, as sheriffs and court bailiffs supervised the possession of the land by the owner.
The battle for the ownership of the land reportedly started in 1989, discontinued and another suit was instituted in 2006, which eventually terminated at the Supreme Court.
A Lagos High Court presided over by Justice Atinuke Ipaye granted an Order of Possession in favour of the Ologunebi family after the Supreme Court had struck out the notice of Appeal by Oba Sule Odu Alabe for himself and on behalf of the Odo Alabe and Ajasa family.
The high court judge, had in September 2011, in a matter with the Suit No ID/ 937/ 2006 ruled in favour of the Ologunebi family, prompting the judgement debtor to seek redress at the Appeal Court and Supreme Court, where the case was struck out for incompetence.
Justice Atinuke Ipaye, while giving her ruling on the application for Order of Procession by the judgment creditor, emphasised that it is important that litigants must enjoy the ‘ fruit of success “ of their legal contest.
The judge ruled that, “I am satisfied that the consequential order of possession sought by the judgment creditor is not only incidental to the subsisting judgment of this court, it also flows directly and naturally from the said judgement and it is a natural consequence of the judgement.
“Finally, it is trite that every court of law has the inherent and bounding duty to ensure that a litigant enjoys the juicy fruit of success in the legal contest.”
