Court Ends Hampton Island Estate Dispute As Capital Gardens Retracts Claims, Issues Apology

A long-running dispute over a portion of the Hampton Island Estate in Lekki, Lagos, has been formally resolved after Capital Gardens Limited, owned by businessman Kennedy Okonkwo, retracted false claims and issued a public apology to Adewale Oladapo and Oretol Nigeria Limited.
The resolution followed the adoption of the parties’ Terms of Settlement as a consent judgment by the Lagos State High Court on January 13, 2026, effectively bringing the matter to a close.
Justice Jumoke Olusola Pedro entered the consent judgment after both parties confirmed that they had amicably resolved their differences. Counsel to the claimant, S.B. Joseph, SAN, informed the court that although an application dated December 3, 2025, had been filed, the dispute had since been settled by mutual agreement. He disclosed that the settlement was executed by all parties on January 9, 2026.
Counsel to the defendant, Mariam Oyede, confirmed the agreement and aligned with the request that it be adopted as the final judgment of the court.
Under the terms of the settlement, Capital Gardens Limited admitted that certain statements and publications it previously made against Adewale Oladapo and Oretol Nigeria Limited were false and misleading.
In compliance with the agreement, Capital Gardens published an unreserved apology in national newspapers, including The Guardian, Leadership, and New Telegraph, editions of January 2, 2026. In the publications, the company acknowledged the embarrassment caused to the affected parties and formally retracted the misrepresentations.
Following the publication of the apology, both parties confirmed that all outstanding issues had been resolved, paving the way for the court’s adoption of the settlement as a consent judgment.
The suit, which was instituted by Capital Gardens Limited, centred on a four-hectare parcel of unreclaimed and submerged land within the approximately 40-hectare Hampton Island Estate. The disputed area was delineated in Survey Plan No. FAI/3454/A01/2024/LA, dated February 8, 2024, and prepared by registered surveyor A. I. Fashina.
Court records further clarified that, contrary to misinformation circulating online, the entire Hampton Island Estate covers about 40 hectares and operates under a government-approved layout. The litigation affected only the four-hectare portion, which remains unreclaimed and submerged, while the rest of the estate was not impacted.
The disagreement arose from a 2020 transaction under which Oretol Nigeria Limited, as the estate’s developer, agreed to allocate four hectares of land to Capital Gardens Limited upon full reclamation. However, delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside inflationary pressures and escalating construction costs, significantly increased reclamation expenses and rendered the project commercially impracticable.
Oretol Nigeria Limited subsequently terminated the agreement, prompting Capital Gardens Limited to file the suit and make a series of public allegations that later became the subject of the apology and settlement.
By virtue of the consent judgment, the dispute between Capital Gardens Limited and Oretol Nigeria Limited over the four hectares of unreclaimed land at Hampton Island Estate has been fully and finally resolved, with all claims settled and no issues remaining before the court.