JUSTICE Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has struck out a suit filed by Winhomes Estate Global Services Ltd against the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and four others over the Lagos-Calabar Highway project.

Chief Executive Officer of Winhomes, Ifeoma Okengwu, and her company, had requested the court to halt the Federal Ministry of Works from using a portion of land claimed to belong to Winhomes for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and sought $250 million damages.
In his ruling on Friday, Justice Aluko held that Winhomes had already sold or transferred its interest in the land to third parties and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

The judge stated that the plaintiffs’ claims were centred on the Land Use Act and allegations of trespass, falling outside the court’s powers under Section 251 of the Constitution.

He also noted that the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to file the case since they admitted in their documents that they had sold their interest in the land to third parties and failed to show any reasonable cause of action against the defendants.

Winhomes Estate Global Services Ltd. had acquired a parcel of land from a local community on the Lagos shoreline that falls within the path of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

The firm refused to relinquish it, insisting that the highway’s design be altered to spare the undeveloped plots.
The Federal Ministry of Works proceded with the demolition after a series of stakeholders’ engagement on the alignment and Right of Way (RoW) and refusal to accept the monetary compensation offered, leading to the court case.

In response, the Ministry of Works stated that the ruling has put an end to what it described as campaigns of calumny against the Minister of Works, David Umahi, and other officials of the ministry by Winhomes Estate Global Services Ltd.