The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed a 39-year-old suit challenging the revocation and compulsory acquisition of Trans-Nkissi Layout in Onitsha by the old Anambra State Government.
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The suit, filed in 1987 by Chinyelugo Denis Chude and 11 others against the Anambra State Government, the State Attorney-General, and the Commissioner for Lands, questioned the legality of the acquisition of the area.
The plaintiffs failed to prosecute the case diligently, leading to it being struck out in 2008 by Justice Agbata. They later applied to have it relisted in 2015, but the trial court refused the request.
An Assistant Director in the Ministry of Justice, Okechukwu Ezeanyim, argued that the case had suffered prolonged inactivity, with no witnesses called, and highlighted that the area had since become a highbrow residential layout housing thousands of residents. He noted that reopening the case would be inequitable and contrary to public policy.
Dissatisfied, the plaintiffs appealed to the Court of Appeal (CA/E/E/96/2015), but the appeal was dismissed for lacking merit. They then approached the Supreme Court (SC/400/2018), which unanimously dismissed the suit.
Justice Iyang Okoro delivered the lead judgment, concurred in by the other justices, bringing finality to the long-standing legal battle.
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