FCT minister loses bid to stop suit over demolition

Lanre Adewole, Abuja - 27.11.2007

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo, on Monday lost a bid to eject Bullet International Limited from its operational site at Plot 4, Shehu Shagari Way,S Central Business District of Abuja.

An Abuja High Court threw out his application seeking to stop the company from further construction work on the said plot.

Bullet also got an order of the court amending the monetary reliefs, thereby bringing its claims against the minister and the other defendants, the FCT and the FCDA to over N4 billion.

This was to cover special and aggravated damages for the arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional demolition, damages to its equipment and disruption of its businesses.

The Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Lawal Gumi, had, in his ruling on the application, held that the claimant\respondent (Bullet) installed a temporary barbed wire fence to secure its machinery and equipment from being vandalised.

According to Gumi, “in the circumstances, I am more inclined to hold that the facts averred in Paragraph 6 of the counter affidavit to the present application remains uncontroverted, it is quite obvious that after the demolition of its premises by the defendants\applicants, the claimant\respondent installed a temporary barbed wire fence to secure its equipment and machinery from being vandalised by intruders.