Ex-NDA staff sues academy over illegal eviction

A former staff member of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Mr. Rasheed Ezekhagbe, has taken the management of the institution to court over what he described as an illegal eviction from his official residence in Kaduna.

Ezekhagbe, a lawyer who served in the legal department of the Academy until his retirement in 2021 at the age of 65, accused the NDA of violating a subsisting court injunction that restrained it from evicting him from his allocated quarters.

Narrating his ordeal to journalists, the retired officer said soldiers invaded his residence at about 12:30 a.m. on June 6, 2025, and forcefully removed his belongings despite the ongoing legal dispute over the ownership of the property located at No. 9 Lokoja Close, Barnawa, Kaduna.

“I was asleep when I heard loud banging on my door. When I looked out, I saw soldiers in my compound.

“They claimed they were from NDA and came to show me a new accommodation. I told them I was no longer a staff and that the house was mine.

“Despite that, they packed all my belongings into a truck and moved me out,” he recounted.

According to him, the property had been offered to him for sale under the Federal Government’s housing monetization policy during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, and he had completed all required payments.

Ezekhagbe said he approached the court after receiving a vacation notice from the NDA in June 2022 and subsequently secured an injunction preventing the Academy from evicting him pending the determination of the suit.

He added that the latest court session, which came up on October 8, 2025, was for a motion on contempt filed against the NDA for disobeying the injunction. However, the defendants reportedly filed a counter-motion late on October 7.

“The motion for contempt came up today, but the defendants filed a counter-motion after close of work yesterday. Both motions will now be taken before the court on the next adjourned date,” he said.

Counsel to the NDA, Al-Ameen Abubakar, declined to comment on the matter, saying he had no authorization from his clients to speak to the media.

The presiding judge, Justice M. M. Ladan of Kaduna High Court 4, adjourned the case to December 11, 2025, for further hearing.

Ezekhagbe described the incident as traumatic, saying he was shocked that armed soldiers could storm his home in the middle of the night despite an existing court order.

“I was traumatized. Imagine sleeping in your own house only to be thrown out at midnight by armed soldiers,” he lamented.