Emmanuel Ometoruwa, a businessman, has sued a Lagos-based real estate company, West Spring Estate Ltd, for failing to deliver two plots of land he purchased from the firm for N50 million nearly two years ago.
Joined in the suit are the managing director and owner of the company, David Amoye, and Sarah Olawoye, the realtor who marketed the plots of land to him.
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Ms Olawoye, one of the defendants in the suit, no longer works for the real estate firm. The company’s managing director and owner, Mr Amoye, said he fired her allegedly over some misdemeanour.
A lawyer, Abiola Ogunleye, representing Emeka Onohwakpor and Co., filed the suit on behalf of Mr Ometoruwa before the High Court of Lagos on 11 October 2024.
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Mr Ometoruwa said his inability to claim ownership of the plots of land in Hacienda Estate in Orofun, Ibeju-Lekki axis of Lagos State, after fulfilling all the contractual obligations he entered into with the firm, has caused him great distress- financial and emotional.
Mr Amoye and West Spring Estate Ltd are the promoters of Hacienda Estate.
Mr Ometoruwa also said all efforts to retrieve the money he paid for the plots of land and other allied expenses have been in vain as Mr Amoye has proved unresponsive to his demands.
The businessman also lamented that all the building materials he bought for the project meant for the plots of land are now wasting away in Lagos.
The suit, the claimant’s prayers
In the court documents obtained by this newspaper, Mr Ometoruwa wants a declaration that the defendants – the trio of Mr Amoye, West Spring Estate Ltd and Ms Olawoye -perpetuated a criminal breach of trust against him in respect of the sale of “spurious plots of land at the Hacienda Estate, Orofun, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State”.
The businessman also wants the court to compel the defendants to pay him N50.7 million being the sum paid for the purchase of the two plots of land, survey and documentation.
Besides, Mr Ometoruwa wants the court to award him N40 million as general and exemplary damages.
He also prays for the court to award him an interest of 21 per cent on the judgement sum until it is fully liquidated.
The case has been assigned to K.O Dawodu as the trial judge. This newspaper also found out that the first and second defendants have been served the court summons. The third defendant – Ms Olawoye- has yet to be served.
Backstory
This newspaper, in a publication in July 2024, detailed how Mr Ometoruwa bought two pieces of land from West Spring Estate Ltd, promoted by Mr Amoye and how the latter has refused to allocate him the plots nor refund the sum paid for it and other expenses
Mr Ometoruwa was introduced to West Spring Estate Limited in December 2022 by Ms Olawoye, who used to live in his house in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
He said his relationship with Ms Olawoye convinced him to buy the plots of land from Mr Amoye’s real estate firm. According to him, he had no reason to suspect that there could be foul play along the way.
He finds it difficult to trust people these days given that his relationship with Ms Olawoye was more like a father and child relationship, Mr Ometoruwa said.
According to documents and receipts reviewed by this newspaper, the two commercial plots of land titled B1 and B2 in Hacienda Estate in Orofun Community in the Ibeju-Lekki cost Mr Ometoruwa N45 million and other charges paid in instalments.
In its contractual agreement with the businessman, the company said he must complete the payment of the total sum on or before 30 October 2023 to acquire the plots. He completed the payments in April of the same year.
The company issued him an electronic receipt dated 14 April 2023 upon completion of the payment.
He paid the first instalment of N10 million on 30 December 2022 via a Zenith Bank account belonging to the company. Other subsequent payments were made in four batches to complete the payment.
Besides the sum of N45 million for the two commercial plots, the businessman also paid the sum of N100,000 for the Deed of Assignment, N1.6 million for the survey of the plots and N3 million as Estate Development Fee, which brought the total sum to approximately N50 million.
“I was made to understand that the Lagos State government approved the title of the land,” Mr Ometoruwa told this newspaper, saying he had already begun to make an arrangement for the purchase of two residential plots in the estate until something told him to pause a while.
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He, however, said in his claims in the court documents that the defendant’s alleged scam burst when he demanded the original copy of the survey plan approved by the Lagos State and insisted on taking possession of the two plots of land, having paid the full purchase price for the same.
According to him, Mr Amoye and West Spring Estate Ltd could not provide him with the original survey plan.
Mr Ometoruwa said that close to two years after fulfilling all the requirements of West Spring Estate Limited for the acquisition of the two commercial plots of land, he has neither been allocated the plots nor his money refunded, thus prompting the ongoing litigation process.
He said even after Mr Amoye told him to officially write a letter demanding a refund of his money since he had lost confidence in the transaction, he has yet to get a reply after writing the letter. The businessman’s lawyer, Emeka Onohwakpor, wrote a demand letter for a refund dated 24 May 2024.
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