THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE UPHOLDS THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS’ OWNERSHIP OF PLOT PC 2A ON ENGINEERING CLOSE, VICTORIA ISLAND AND AWARDS DAMAGES IN THE SUM OF N100 MILLION AGAINST THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR TRESSPASS.

AELEX is pleased to have successfully represented the Nigerian Society of Engineers (“NSE”) in Suit No: LD/94/2013 -The Nigerian Society of Engineers v. The Hon. Minister For Lands, Housing and Urban Development & 4 Ors in an action for trespass in respect of a parcel of land in Victoria Island, Lagos State.

Briefly, the facts of the case are that the NSE, by virtue of a Certificate of Occupancy dated 26 August 1981 issued by the Lagos State Government, was granted a statutory right of occupancy over a parcel of land known as Professional Centre Plot No. 2 (PC 2) at Victoria Island, Lagos State. The NSE subsequently erected the National Engineering Centre on Plot PC 2.

Subsequently, in 1995, the NSE applied for and was issued a Certificate of Occupancy in respect of an adjoining parcel of land known as Plot PC 2A for a term of 99 years. Plot PC 2A is the land in dispute between the parties. The NSE exercised exclusive acts of ownership over Plot PC 2A until 2011, when the 1st and 2nd Defendants (the Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development and the Minister for Education respectively) with the use of thugs violently broke into PC 2A removing the NSE’s perimeter fence and beacons, claiming that the land belongs to the Federal Government and that it had been designated for the construction of a mosque for King’s College. On 11 November 2012, the 1st and 2nd Defendants by force of arms annexed Plot PC 2A into King’s College.

All attempts by the NSE to resolve this dispute amicably proved abortive. Consequently, in 2013, the NSE commenced an action against the Ministers and the Attorney General of the Federation for trespass at the High Court of Lagos State.

At the trial, the NSE relied on the certificate of occupancy granted by the Governor of Lagos State and other acts of ownership in respect of Plot PC 2A in proof of its title. The NSE led evidence at the trial to establish that Plot PC 2A fell outside King’s College land and was in fact part of Engineering Close, which ran from Idowu Taylor Street and terminated at King’s College fence.

On the other hand, the 1st – 2nd  Defendants relied  on a Notice of Acquisition published in a 1944  pre-colonial gazette No. 24 Vol. 31 of 18 May 1944 to establish that all the land lying between Five Cowrie Creek and Victoria Beach and between Crown Land along Victoria Beach Road and Magbon Creek in the Colony of Lagos (the entire land in Victoria Island including Plot PC 2A) were Crown Land having been acquired by the colonial government.

Upon Nigeria’s independence on 1 October 1960, the land purportedly acquired by the said notice of acquisition was transferred to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The 1st and 2nd Defendants’ case is that the Federal Government first allocated the land in dispute to the Federal School of Arts and Science, Lagos and upon the abolition of the Federal School of Arts and Science, the land in dispute was allocated to King’s College.

In a judgment delivered on 26 June 2025, the High Court of Lagos State, coram Hon. Justice Ashade:

  1. Upheld the NSE’s objection to the pre-colonial gazette No. 24 Vol. 31 of 18 May 1944,  the charted survey of the land belonging to the Federal School of Arts and Science dated 7 November 2022 and the copy of the plan showing the site of the Federal School of Arts and Science (Exhibits A, B and C respectively) tendered by the 1st and 2nd Defendants in proof of its ownership of the land in dispute on the grounds that by the provisions of section 90 and 102 of the Evidence Act, the said exhibits are  public documents and only the originals or certified copies of these exhibits and not photocopies that are admissible in evidence.
  1. Held that the NSE had established its title to the land in dispute by the production of its document of title, its long possession of the land in dispute and its acts of ownership over the land as stipulated by the Supreme Court in Idundun v Okumagba (1976) 9 & 10 SC 227.
  1. That upon the creation of Lagos State in 1967 by virtue of the States (Creation and Transitional Provisions Act) No. 14 of 1967, all Crown Lands in Lagos State were transferred to the Lagos State government. The Federal Government only retained the buildings and land held which it held prior to 1967.
  1. The NSE had established by evidence that the land in dispute fell outside the King’s College land and it is part of Engineering Close, which runs from Idowu Taylor Street and terminates at the fence of King’s College.

Consequently, the court declared that the NSE had proved its title to the land in dispute (Plot PC 2A), and awarded exemplary damages in the sum of N100 Million in  favour of the NSE. The court also granted a perpetual injunction restraining the 1st and 2nd Defendants from further trespass on the land in dispute and costs in the sum of N5 Million.

Adedapo Tunde-Olowu, SAN, Linda Ezenyimulu, Temidayo Adewoye and Oluwatosin Fajolu represented the Claimant, NSE.