The deliberate arraignment of businessman Alhaji Hameed Kasumu and his firm, Kings County Property Funding Restricted, on prices of forcible entry, illegal possession, and conspiracy over a disputed property at Plot 15, Alexander Avenue, Ikoyi, was stalled on the Lagos State Excessive Court docket, Tafa Balewa Sq., final Thursday, following the defendants’ absence.
The case stemmed from a petition by Muhammadu Dahiru Wada, who accused Kasumu and his firm of illegally occupying his property.
When the matter was known as earlier than Justice Abdul-Raheem Tejumade Muyideen, the prosecutor, Igile Oju, knowledgeable the court docket that the defendants had been duly served with the cost however failed to look.
“We’ve got filed a five-count cost towards the defendants. The proof of service is earlier than the court docket. They’re conscious of the cost, and I have no idea why they don’t seem to be right here,” Oju acknowledged.
Nonetheless, defence counsel, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), disputed the declare, arguing that Kasumu was exterior the court docket’s jurisdiction and had not been correctly served.
He added that the defence had filed a preliminary objection difficult the court docket’s jurisdiction.
“We filed the applying dated November 5, 2025, and served the prosecution in court docket. The subject material issues land allotted to the second defendant and has been litigated earlier than.
“The place jurisdiction is being challenged, the bodily presence of the primary defendant is just not obligatory,” Adegboruwa stated.
Justice Muyideen examined the proof of service dated October 15, 2025, which confirmed that the cost was served on one Mrs Ruth, who was allegedly an worker of the primary defendant.
The prosecutor confirmed that Mrs Ruth labored on the workplace of Kasumu, who owns the corporate.
After reviewing arguments, the court docket held that correct service had not been effected on Kasumu personally, though service on the corporate may very well be deemed ample.
The prosecutor then sought an adjournment to regularise service, which the court docket granted, adjourning the case to January 13, 2026, for the listening to of the preliminary objection.
The Inspector-Basic of Police (IGP) had filed a five-count cost (LD/26902C/2025) towards Kasumu and his agency, accusing them of conspiracy, forcible entry, illegal possession, and intimidation over the Ikoyi property.
The prosecution alleged that between 2021 and 2023, the defendants conspired to trespass, intimidate, and unlawfully occupy property owned by Wada, a conduct that was stated to be prone to trigger worry and breach the peace.
A police investigation report dated April 23, 2025, revealed that whereas Kasumu’s agency obtained a court docket judgment regarding Plot 16, Alexander Avenue, it allegedly prolonged enforcement to Plot 15, belonging to Wada.
A verification report from the Surveyor-Basic of the Federation confirmed that Plots 15 and 16 are separate parcels of land, about 306 metres aside.
The IGP Monitoring Unit advisable that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, withdraw the law enforcement officials deployed at 15 Alexander Avenue on the occasion of Hameed Kasumu, because the Police shouldn’t be used as a suppression instrument, as a result of it’s clear the suspect doesn’t personal the land.
