Supreme Court Judgment: Pastor takes possession of 7 acres land in Warri community

Sequel to the January 12 Supreme Court unanimous verdict affirming Pastor Richmond Leigh as the real owner of 7 acres land in Ubeji community in Warri South Local Government Area, Delta State, officials of a Warri High Court Friday, February 2 moved into the land with an Excavator and armed security operatives to bring down some buildings, seal all affected structures on the land and legally took possession of them.

Armed with the High Court Certificate of Warrant duly signed by the Chief Bailiff of the Court dated March 2, 2018 the Court moved in a convoy of three Hilux Van with Mobile Policemen and the Excavator to bring down the palatial residence of a Medical Practitioner, Dr. Temisanren attaching a notice to all affected buildings with the inscription, “Taken Possession” boldly written in red ink.

Speaking to journalists on the demolition exercise, Pastor of the Father’s House Church, Warri, Dr. Richmond Leigh said “I give thanks to God Almighty for witnessing this day because all their Juju and charms targeted to kill me failed. I just want to tell them that the God I serve is greater than all their charms put together to harm and criminally take my hard earned property with impunity in the false belief I will die before the end of the court case that took almost 26years. This my action will serve as deterrent to those who takes pleasure in selling one piece of land to numerous persons relying on their false juju/charm to kill the original buyer. In my case, the buyers were all aware that they were acquiring my property through the wrong people, that is the more reasons, having come this far and am still alive, there is need to teach some lessons for people to learn from, otherwise I do not really need all those large piece of land”, he explained.

It took the intervention of the Ologbotsere of Warri kingdom, Chief Ayirimi Emami to persuade Pastor Leigh to discontinue the demolition exercise, even as he charged all those who trespassed on the said land to immediately take steps to negotiate and settle with Dr. Leigh’s solicitors for their own benefit, as they may not likely have such timely intervention or relief next time.

Former landlords and tenants affected by the exercise were weeping, wailing and publicly appealing to Dr. Leigh to spare their home and give them more time to settle their case, saying that they were deceived into buying the land and dragging the matter to court.

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