They say the punch that knocks you out is not necessarily the hardest one, but the one you didn’t see coming.
For late Samuel Adebola Atunrase’s family, the court rulings that affirmed late land merchant, Chief Emmanuel Oyedele Ashamu as the rightful owner of lands in Atunrase Estate, Gbagada, Lagos State, was judgement they least expected.
For decades, the Atunrases claimed ownership of the lands in Atunrase Estate until the Lagos High Court and Court of Appeal rulings recently affirmed that the Ashamus are the rightful and legal owner of lands in the Estate.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos dismissed the appeal filled by Mr Olushola Atunrase, Mr Tunji Atunrase and others challenging the judgement of a Lagos High Court over the ownership of land within Atunrase Estate.
In the recent judgment, Justices Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh, Jamilu Yammama Tukur and Ebiowei Obi threw out the appeal. They affirmed that there had been settlement between Chief Atunrase and the respondents in which they (the Atunrases ) appeared to concede that a firm, Industrial Chemist, was most probably the owner of land in the area, including at Atunrase Estate.
The late Chief Emmanuel Oyedele Ashamu is the owner of Industrial Chemist.
The judge observed that “The respondents contended that the court below was right in holding in its judgement that in the terms of settlement in suit No. ID/371/84 Chief Atunrase and three others conceded that Industrial Chemist were the owners of nine plots of land and paid N90,000 to them from which the court below drew the inference that Industrial Chemist is most probably the owner of surrounding land including Atunrase…”
The judge agreed with the lower court that “fraud and collusion which were the double-pronged arsenal deployed the appellants against the consent judgement were not established.
It’s indeed a plus and an achievement for the Ashamus.
The departed soul of Chief Emmanuel Oyedele Ashamu will definitely be pleased that justice is served in his favour. The late philanthropist will also be well-pleased with his son, the Head of the Family and Chairman of Ashamu Group of Companies, Mr Victor Omotunde Babatunde Ashamu for this historic and landmark achievement.