BY AMAYINDI YAKUBU
PROCEEDINGS at the Delta State High Court Asaba , presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Tessy Diai, yesterday, was enlivened as a private surveyor was vigorously cross-examined on the accuracy of competing survey plans in a land dispute between Mr. Chimezie and Hon James and Mr. John Francis Ezechukwu.
Defence counsel put the Surveyor, Mr. Austine Chinedu Okoli, under sustained questioning after the lawyer produced a plan prepared by surveyor Olodode Ayobami. Mr. Okoli rejected the rival plan, telling the court that he conducted the survey himself and that the land falls within the national grid. He said the Olodode Ayobami plan was incorrect and liable to mislead the court.
The defence counsel further argued that the land falls within four parcels, but the surveyor disagrees. The surveyor reiterated that he conducted the survey himself and that the land falls within the national grid.
While Mr. Okoli explained the purpose and technical content of a survey plan, defence counsel interrupted and said that the witness had been called to answer questions, not to lecture the court. The lawyer pressed the witness on the origin of the beacon coordinates Mr. Okoli used, noting the surveyor relied on numbers from an older survey plan. Mr. Okoli told the court he used the coordinate figures from the earlier plan.
Counsel asked why the surveyor had not altered the coordinates if the older plan was flawed, and raised the possibility that the property might have been tampered with. Mr. Okoli responded that “coordinates cannot be changed” and that “land does not run away,” which led to laughter in the courtroom. He added that he would be surprised if another surveyor’s plotted coordinates differed from his, saying “there is no argument on survey”.
The court adjourned the matter to April 13, 2026 for further hearing. The court session, centred on whether the parcel of land at issue falls within four plots or aligns with national grid coordinates.
