The Ajebamidele Iron Market in Lagos has asked the Lagos High Court to suspend the execution of a judgment concerning the land on which the market is situated, pending the determination of its appeal at the Court of Appeal.
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Suing through six of its members, the market is praying for “an order of court staying the execution of its judgment delivered on December 10, 2024.”
The judgment was delivered by Justice Kayode Ogunjobi of the Lagos High Court.

The six defendants/applicants are Mr Bashiru Jimoh, Mr Olayiwola Ilesanmi, Mr Aminu Oladipupo, Mr Raheem Sanni, Mr Atilade, and Mr Wahabi Mohammed. They filed their application through their counsel, Mrs Tomilola Ogunkelu, against two defendants in a suit marked LD/2665LM/2020.

The claimants/respondents are Oba Abdul-Fatai Aromire (The Ojora of Ijora Land) and Chief Fatai Adio Suleiman (The Odofin of Ijora Land) (for themselves and on behalf of the Ojora Royal Family & Council, Lagos).

The market is located on a large expanse of land off the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos. Its ownership has been the subject of at least two other suits between the market and several related parties.

In the current suit, the market asserted that the Federal Government owns the land, for which it has been paying rent for decades, while the family claimed ownership.
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However, unlike the previous suits, the lower court ruled in favour of the claimants/respondents. Dissatisfied, the market approached the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the judgment. It also filed an application at the high court seeking a stay of execution of the judgment.

In a previous suit, Justice Oluwayemisi William-Dawodu, who was then a judge of the Lagos High Court but is now a Justice of the Court of Appeal, upheld the market’s claim.

In her judgment, Justice William-Dawodu held that the land belongs to the Federal Government, to whom the market members have been paying rent. In a related suit, Justice Ezekiel Ashade upheld the market’s claim. According to the market, that judgment is yet to be appealed.

In an affidavit in support of the market’s current application, sworn by Mr Olayiwola Ilesanmi, the defendants/applicants stated that they “have been in occupation of the land on which judgment was given in favour of the claimants/respondents for over 45 years.

“The claimants/respondents are aware of our presence on the land and that we trade in iron. The area we occupy is known as the Ajebamidele Iron Market. We have always been paying rent on the land to the Federal Government.”

Praying the court would grant their request, they explained that their business is their only source of livelihood, adding that if the judgment is allowed to be executed, they will lose it.
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