Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf of an Abuja High Court will on Aug. 23, hear a motion stopping FCT Minister Bala Mohammed from going ahead with the planned demolition of Mpape village.
A resident, Mr Friday Chimezie, filed a suit against the minister and the FCTA, on behalf of 10 other residents of the village.
In the suit filed on their behalf by Mr Ayodele Gata, their counsel, the residents opposed the proposed demolition of more than 10,000 buildings at the Mpape village in Mpape District of the FCT.
They want the court to issue an injunction restraining the FCT minister from carrying out the exercise, which is scheduled to begin on Aug. 31.
Baba-Yusuf adjourned hearing of the motion following complaints by Gata that he was served with a copy of a counter motion by counsel to the defendants, Mr Ifianyi Obiaso, late on Tuesday.
Gata prayed the court for a short adjournment to enable him respond to some fundamental issues raised by Obiaso.
He further prayed the court to grant an order that all parties maintain the status quo pending the
determination of the suit.
Obiaso, who apologised for the late service of the counter motion, said that his clients were not
served with any hearing notice by the plaintiff.
The hearing notice, he said, was prepared and served on all parties, informing them that they had been named in a suit and should appear in court.
The judge, in his ruling, said: “I think it is wise at this point to refrain from making any order that would be interpreted to mean that the reliefs sought by the applicants have been granted.
“On the basis of this, I make no order of restraint against the defendants.
“However, it is clearly the law that once parties have submitted their grievances to the court, it would be wrong to resort to self-help.’’
The judge ordered the counsel to ensure that they serve each other with all the court processes before Wednesday, Aug. 23. (NAN)