Femi Ashekun/
An Osborne-Ikoyi High Court in Lagos has restrained the Lagos State Government and the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) from continuing the construction of a residential estate within the premises of Gbaja Boys High School in Surulere.
Justice Y. J. Badejo-Okusanya issued the order on January 27 while ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Modupe Johnson Crescent Residents Association.
The application, brought by their counsel, Barrister Imran O. Shitta-Bey, is part of a suit marked LD/5840LM/2025.
The court granted a pre-emptive order of injunction directing the Managing Director of LSDPC and the corporation to immediately halt all construction activities on the site pending the completion of pre-action protocol procedures.
The judge further restrained the respondents, their agents, contractors and anyone acting on their behalf from continuing the development within the school grounds.
In addition, the court ordered the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, acting through the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority and the Lagos State Building Control Agency, to seal the construction site.
The orders will remain in force until the pre-action protocol process is concluded.
The case has been adjourned to February 27, 2026.
According to court documents, the residents of Modupe Johnson Crescent approached the court after alleging that LSDPC began building a residential estate on land designated for educational purposes within the premises of the public secondary school.
In a further affidavit, Babatunde Ajayi, a trustee of the residents’ association and a landlord in the area, stated that the association had previously initiated pre-action steps. These included serving a Memorandum of Claim on the respondents and proposing alternative dispute resolution through the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse or relevant government agencies.
Ajayi also deposed that a stakeholders’ meeting convened in December 2025 by the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education resolved that construction should cease pending regulatory investigations.
Following that meeting, enforcement bodies including the Lagos State Building Control Agency and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources reportedly issued stop-work and contravention notices, as well as seal orders.
Despite those directives, the residents alleged that work continued at what they described as an alarming pace, prompting them to seek urgent judicial intervention.
They argued that unless restrained by the court, the development could result in the permanent loss of land originally set aside for educational use.
As of the time of filing this report, the Lagos State Government and LSDPC had not publicly responded to the court ruling.
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