Land War: Court Orders Victorious Army Ministries International To Appear Before It

REVEREND JOSEPH AGBOLI, FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH 

The High Court of Lagos State, presided over by Justice Raliat Adebiyi, has ordered the Incorporated Trustees of the Victorious Army Ministries International, to appear before it to provide answers to a land dispute case involving it and the Asade Royal Family of Ogba, Lagos.

Justice Adebiyi arrived at the decision sequel to a motion exparte brought under Order 9, Rule 5 of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019, by Prince Oyewole Asade and Prince Olabisi Asade.

It would be recalled that the Asade Royal family had instituted an application praying for the leave of the court to effect the serve of a writ of summons and all other originating processes on the church by substituted means by pasting at the church premises, having failed to accept service.

According to the writ of summons, the Asade Royal family is praying to the judge for a declaration that they own all the pieces or parcels of land located and situated at Plot 22, Acme Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State. 

The Asade Royal family also wants the judge to issue a declaration that they are entitled to the statutory Right of Occupancy in respect of all the pieces or parcels of land located and situated at Plot 22, Acme Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State. 

Furthermore, the royal family, as the Claimants, are seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the church, its servants, agents, privies, assigns, representatives and whosoever derived title from them from trespassing or further trespass on the disputed land.

The Asade Royal family equally wants an order for possession of all the pieces or parcels of land known, located and situated at Plot 22, Acme Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State. 

In its statement of claim, the Asade Royal family relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in suit No SC 129/1984 wherein Justice Andrews Obaseki affirmed that Agidingbi village and all the farmlands surrounding it lie within Asade’s Ogba land.

The royal family equally averred that there is no record of any sale, assignment, transfer, or lease of the said land from their record to the Church and that it did not know how the church, the Incorporated Trustees of Victorious Army Ministries International, got into its land.

Specifically, the counsel for the royal family, Otunba Remi Adeoye, noted that despite the service of the originating processes, the church did not file their defence to the claim within the time allowed by the rules of the court.

According to the lawyer, the church had allegedly failed deliberately and refused to file any process in court to delay the hearing of the case.

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