The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos, on Tuesday ordered that hearing notices should be served on defendants in a suit filed by residents of the Nigeria Customs Quarters in Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos, against their eviction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that more than 192 residents of the estate had jointly instituted the suit.
Joined as defendants are the Presidential Implementation Committee on Federal Government’s Landed Property and the Nigeria Customs Service.
At the hearing of the case on Tuesday, Mr Joseph Igwe, announced his appearance as counsel for the claimant alongside Mr Moses Enema.
NAN reports that the defendants, who were absent in court, were not represented.
Igwe told the court that the defendants had been served the processes in Abuja by the registrar, but that there was no proof of service in the court’s file.
Justice B.B. Kayinp, in his remarks, noted that the claimants ought to have filed the action in Abuja where the defendants resided to avoid issues of non-service.
Kayinp, however, said he would adjourn the case to enable hearing notices to be served on the defendants.
NAN also reports that the claimants are contesting what they called clandestine moves by an “influential Nigerian’’ to get the committee to eject them and acquire the blocks of flats built some 40 years ago.
They had expressed interest to buy the flats as sitting tenants in March 2012 and paid N10, 000 each for the expression of interest form after which a verification exercise was carried out by the Presidential Committee.
The Federal Government had in 2004 advertised the sale of its residential properties across the country including those in Lagos, first to sitting tenants.
The former Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Abdulahi Diko Inde, had on Dec. 23, 2015 directed the Lagos Zonal Office of Customs to eject the officers both serving and retired by Dec. 31, 2015.
The said ejection was via a circular numbered NCS/ENF/ABJ/113/S.174 entitled, “Administration and harmonization of quarters/barracks allocation”, and signed by Ag. Deputy Comptroller-General, Dan Ugo.
The residents averred that the move is a contravention of Federal Government’s policy of removing its hands from owning and maintaining staff quarters.
Federal agencies in the estate that had benefitted from the sale of such houses include the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police, Federal Housing Authority, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Others include: The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the defunct Nigerian Airways and the defunct Nigerian National Shipping Line.
The residents, among other reliefs, want the court to direct the committee to issue letters of allocation to them and stop the Customs from making moves to re-acquire the quarters already relinquished by the government.
Hearing has been fixed for July 6.