Thirty-nine years after the institution of the case, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed a suit challenging the revocation and compulsory acquisition of Trans-Nkissi Layout in Onitsha by the Anambra State Government.
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 revocation and acquisition of the area now known as Trans-Nkissi Layout, Onitsha.
The layout is comparable to the Trans-Ekulu Layout in Enugu and the Trans-Amadi Layout in Rivers State.
Findings indicate that the plaintiffs failed to diligently prosecute the matter, leading to its being struck out in 2008 by Justice Agbata.
The plaintiffs subsequently waited more than seven years before applying for the suit to be relisted.
Further reports show that their application for relisting in 2015 was refused by the trial court after considering the opposition by an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Justice, Okechukwu Ezeanyim.
He had argued that the case had suffered prolonged inactivity since 1987, with no witnesses called, and noted that the area had since developed into a highbrow residential layout with thousands of occupants.
He maintained that reopening the matter would be inequitable and contrary to public policy, given the long period of inaction.
Dissatisfied, the plaintiffs appealed to the Court of Appeal (CA/E/E/96/2015), but the appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.
A further appeal to the Supreme Court (SC/400/2018) met a similar fate, with the apex court dismissing the case in a unanimous decision.
Justice Iyang Okoro delivered the lead judgment, which was concurred in by the other justices.
Credit: Joseph Egbeocha, ABS.
