A court is to rule on motions by those seeking to be joined in a suit on November 12. The suit over a land dispute is before the Honourable Justice S. H. Aprioku.
The presiding judge of the Port-Harcourt High Court on Monday took motions for joinder from those seeking to be joined in the suit and had reserved ruling for November 12.
The disputed land is on Tam David West Boulevard, which is a stretch of road from Airport Roundabout to the Obiri Ikwerre Interchange in Port-Harcourt.
The claimants in the suit are Mr Fabulous Amaewhule, Mr Oluchukwu Amaewhule and Mr Ezihuo Opara, for themselves and as representatives of Mbodo Community, Aluu, in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Their counsel, Collins Dike, had said in an interview that the land belonged to his clients.
There is a standing order by the court which restrains parties in the suit from trespassing on the disputed land pending determination of a motion brought by counsel to second set of defendants in the case.
The counsel to second set of defendants, Patrice Ukposi, had prayed the court in an earlier hearing to maintain the status quo by an order which would restrain the claimants from further trespassing on the disputed land pending determination of his motion.
He had said that the claimants had allegedly worked on the disputed land with help by the police and had prayed the court to intervene.
The court had accordingly restrained the claimants and defendants from trespassing on the disputed land pending the determination of the motion brought by counsel to the second set of defendants.
The second set of defendants in the suit include Dr. Moses Bakpo, Mr Independence Enyidah, Mr Victor Ossai and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic.
Ukposi had said that his clients had possession of the disputed land for five years before it was trespassed by the claimants.
He had also said that they bought the disputed land from the Omuchinwo Group of Familities in Mbodo Community, Aluu, in Ikwerre Local Government.
The judge had frowned on the use of police by parties in the suit.
He said at a hearing on February 14 he would not share “judicial powers” with the police and had appealed to counsels to advise their clients not to get the police involved in the case.
The case also came up on Monday at the Honourable Justice E.N. Thompson’s court.
