Court Of Appeal Orders Dismantling Of Telecommunication Mast In GRA Asaba For Breaching Town Planning And NCC Guidelines

The Court of Appeal, Asaba Division has ordered Helios Towers Nigeria Ltd to dismantle the Collocation Base Transceiver Station (Mast) it erected at Plot 1, Phase 1, Core Area (GRA) Asaba.

The order was contained in the unanimous judgment of the Court in Appeal No. CA/AS/573/2018: Hon. Justice Peter Obiorah vs. Helios Towers Nigeria Ltd delivered on 25th March, 2022 by Hon. Justice M. O. Bolaji-Yusuff, JCA and which  Justice Ekanem and Obaseki-Adejumo, JJCA concurred.

The appellant, Justice Peter Obiorah had dragged Helios Towers Ltd to the High Court Asaba for erecting a big Collocation Base Transceiver Station (Mast) of above 35 meters height next to his residence at Core Area, Asaba, a high-brow low density residential area.

He claimed that the Mast was unlawfully erected without necessary and appropriate approval from the Town Planning Authority of Delta State and contrary to Nigeria Communications Commission Guidelines on Technical Specifications.

He also claimed that the noise and thick smoke from the power generating sets and other equipment installed by the respondent constitutes nuisance and interferes with the quiet enjoyment of his land and poses a health challenge and great danger to the lives of his family members who live in perpetual fear, anxiety and apprehension of death in the event of collapse of the illegal mast on them.

The trial High Court presided over by Hon. Justice T. O. Diai in its judgment agreed that the Base Station was erected without compliance with the NCC Guidelines or Town Planning Law of Delta State but held that the case fell within the realm of public nuisance and that the claimant did not establish that he sustained any particular damage.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, Justice Obiorah approached the Court of Appeal where his counsel, Sir Ejike Ezenwa, SAN canvassed arguments in urging the appellate court to reverse the High Court judgment. The Court of Appeal in its judgment allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment delivered on 2nd May, 2018 by the High Court.

The Court of Appeal declared that the location and erection of the respondent’s Collocation Base Transceiver Station (Mast) on Plot 1 Extract of Phase 1, Core Area Layout, Asaba which is a residential area and adjacent the compound of the appellant is unlawful and illegal and constitutes a nuisance to the appellant.

The Court directed the respondent (Helios Towers Nigeria Ltd) to dismantle, shut down, remove and stop the use and operation of the Collocation Base Transceiver Station (Mast) immediately.

The decision of the Court of Appeal has revealed the risk and nuisance caused by indiscriminate erection of telecommunications masts in Nigeria.