Enugu demolished properties before getting lease approval – Court documents

Court documents have showed that the Enugu State Government secured an offer letter for the lease of a parcel of land at Holy Ghost, Enugu, three months after it demolished properties belonging the Ohha Microfinance and hundreds of other businesses worth several hundreds of millions, court documents have revealed.

The revelation is contained in the state government’s Statement of Defence in a N20.4 billion suit filed by Ohha Microfinance Bank Limited.

The suit, marked E/37/2025, is pending before Justice Cyprian Ajah of the Enugu State High Court, Enugu Judicial Division.

In its defence filed by G.I. Iloma, Assistant Chief Legal Officer, the state government admitted that the offer for the lease of the land where it constructed a motor park was formally communicated by the Railway Property Management to the state via a letter dated August 15, 2024, and was subsequently accepted, months after the government demolished Polytechnic, several banks and hundreds of businesses without or inadequate compensations paid.

However, the bank, represented by human rights lawyer Olu Omotayo, argued in its reply to the defendants’ Statement of Defence that the lease offer is illegal, having been obtained months after the demolition.

“The Offer Letter… is illegal, as it was made three months after the unlawful demolition of the plaintiffs’ properties,” the court process, obtained by South East PUNCH stated.

It added, “It is evident from the Court documents that the state government carried out the demolition of citizens’ properties without having valid title to the land, which they tried to secure by obtaining documents conferring title on the state government on August 15, 2024, three months after the illegal and unlawful demolition of peoples’ properties.”

The demolition, which occurred on May 15, 2024, saw the destruction of the Plaintiff’s Corporate headquarters at No. 1, Ogui Road Road, Enugu, including two bank safes worth N15 million. The state government gave the bank just 72-hour notice to vacate on May 12, 2024.

In its defence, the state claimed the land was leased from Railway Property Company Limited, and that Rev. Fr. Prof. Emmanuel Edeh of Our Saviour Institute of Science, Agriculture and Technology (OSISATECH) had a 25-year lease on the land which had expired.

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The state further stated that around October 13, 2023, it caused staff of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority to serve removal notices on buildings to be affected by the project, including OSISATECH.

Ohha Microfinance Bank’s suit, filed on January 20, 2025, highlights the devastating impact on over 27 years of multimillion-naira investment.

The bank is seeking a declaration that the destruction of its properties without prompt and adequate compensation is illegal, unconstitutional, null, and void, violating Sections 43 & 44(1) of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 22 and 23 of the African Charter on Human & Peoples Rights.

It is also seeking special damages of N420,194,500; aggravated, punitive, and general damages of N20 billion; an 18% interest rate on the special damages from May 15, 2024, until judgment is delivered; and a 10% interest rate on the judgment sum until full liquidation.

The plaintiff maintains that the state’s action contradicts its public posture of being “investor-friendly,” arguing that the government consistently refused to pay compensation for the wilful destruction of the bank’s investment.

While the state government attempts to legitimise its actions with the August 2024 lease document, the plaintiff’s legal team insists the retroactive acquisition cannot sanitise an already executed unlawful demolition that affected hundreds of citizens and businesses.

When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, it was stalled due to the absence of the trial judge.

The case was subsequently adjourned to December 7, 2026, for continuation of trial.