By Okikiola Lateef

A Lagos State High Court vacation judge, Justice Akinwunmi Idowu, has returned the case file of alleged forgery and illegal occupation brought against a firm, Al-Trade Agencies Limited, and two others back to the Chief Judge for reassignment.

The case involves Julius Eshiet and Alabi Collins of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, who are listed as 1st and 3rd defendants.

The charges were filed by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and first came before Justice Idowu on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

At the resumed hearing last Friday, Justice Idowu informed the prosecution, Rotshang Dimka of the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, that the matter could no longer proceed before him, having marked the end of the judiciary’s long vacation.

The file, he said, had been sent back to the Chief Judge for fresh assignment to a regular court.

The police had charged the defendants on a 13-count charge bordering on alleged forceful takeover, illegal occupation and forgery of documents relating to a disputed property in the Government Reserved Area (GRA), Ikeja.
The defendants are accused of conspiring to unlawfully seize and occupy Block C, Plots 30 and 37, Ajisafe Street, said to be in the lawful possession of Viagem Property & Investment Ltd.

One of the charges read:“That you, Julius Eshiet and Al-Trade Agencies Ltd, sometime in 2021 did use force to take over landed property in possession of Viagem Property and Investment Ltd at Block C, Plots 30 and 37, Ajisafe Street, GRA Ikeja, and resorted to self-help by using innocent police officers to evict officials found in possession, contrary to the Lagos State Properties Protection Law, 2016.”

The prosecution further alleged that Eshiet and Al-Trade Agencies, in company of armed police officers, illegally entered and occupied the land, and went on to destroy signposts erected by the Lagos State Special Task Force (LSSTF) to indicate that the property was under investigation.

The defendants were accused of forgery and falsification of documents. The charge reads: “That you, Julius Eshiet, Al-Trade Agencies Ltd and Alabi Collins, sometime in 2021 did make false documents such as an Offer of Lease dated May 2003 and a Certificate of Occupancy dated October 16, 2021 for the said land, without lawful authority, with intent that the documents be acted on as genuine to the prejudice of others, contrary to Section 365 of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

The charge further alleged that the defendants attempted to register the forged documents with government authorities in a bid to validate their claim of ownership.