{"id":838,"date":"2026-07-12T14:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=838"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:09:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:09:21","slug":"delta-high-court-declares-claimant-lawful-owner-orders-demolition-of-building-in-land-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=838","title":{"rendered":"Court Declares Claimant Lawful Owner, Orders Demolition of Building in Land Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ogbuke Ivanna<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Delta State High Court sitting in Abraka has declared Mr. John Emudainohwo the lawful owner of a
disputed parcel of land, and ordered the demolition of a building erected on the property by Mr.
Nnamdi Prince, after ruling that no valid sale of the land had taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Samuel I. Okeleke delivered the judgment in Suit No. HCA\/61\/2021, which arose from a dispute
over a parcel of land located at John Emudainohwo Estate, opposite the perimeter fence of Delta State
University (DELSU), Campus I, along the Abraka New Sapele\/Agbor Road in Ethiope East Local
Government Area of Delta State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claimant, Mr. Emudainohwo, told the court that he inherited the property from his late father and
had remained in possession of it since 1983, he maintained that negotiations with the defendant in 2020
involved the proposed sale of only a portion of the land for \u20a610 million, but the defendant paid only \u20a65
million and failed to complete the transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


According to the claimant, negotiations were terminated after the balance remained unpaid, he further
alleged that the defendant later entered the property without his consent and commenced the
construction of a two storey building on a larger portion of the land despite repeated warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Delta High Court Grants Divorce, Awards Custody of Three Children to Mother<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defendant, however, argued that a valid sale had been concluded, insisting that the agreed
purchase price was \u20a65 million, maintaining that the claimant had supplied his bank account details for
payment, and encouraged him to begin construction while documentation for the transaction was being
prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


After reviewing the evidence presented by both parties, Justice Okeleke held that there was no valid
transfer of ownership, because the parties did not reach agreement on the essential terms of the
transaction, including the purchase price and the exact dimensions of the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The court also ruled that the Deeds of Conveyance relied upon by the defendant were unsigned by the
claimant, and therefore incapable of transferring title under Nigerian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Justice Okeleke further held that payment of money alone does not confer ownership of land, without a
properly executed conveyance or compliance with the legal requirements governing land transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> The Price Of Distraction Onboard The Roller-Coaster Drive Of Campus Life<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court rejected the defendant’s claim that the claimant had approved the construction, noting that
the claimant consistently protested the development and repeatedly warned the defendant to stop
work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequently, the court declared Mr. Emudainohwo the lawful owner of the disputed property and held
that the defendant’s occupation of the land amounted to trespass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Justice Okeleke ordered the defendant to collect the \u20a65 million deposit through the court registry within
10 working days, and directed officials of the Delta State Ministry of Lands and Survey to demolish the
building erected on the disputed land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The court also awarded the claimant \u20a62 million in damages for trespass and made no order as to costs,
bringing the long running dispute to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Delta High Court Grants Divorce, Awards Custody of Three Children to Mother<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ogbuke Ivanna A Delta State High Court sitting in Abraka has declared Mr. John Emudainohwo the lawful owner of adisputed parcel of land, and ordered the demolition of a building erected on the property by Mr.Nnamdi Prince, after ruling that no valid sale of the land had taken place. Justice Samuel I. Okeleke delivered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":5,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[31,218,25,217,140],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-court","tag-delsu","tag-judiciary","tag-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions\/852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}