Justice Adebayo Oyebanji gave the order in a suit filed by Chief Debe Odumegwu-Ojukwu, which is one of the several pending suits before different judges over the inheritance of Ojukwu’s properties.
Apart from Bianca, other respondents in the suit are Ojukwu Transport Ltd, (OTL), Prof. Joseph Ojukwu, Emmanuel Ojukwu, Lotanna Ojukwu, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Patricia Ojukwu and Mrs Margaret Nwagbo (Nee Ojukwu). Oyebanji had at the last adjourned date, ordered that Bianca be served through a national newspaper publication, since the claimant could not serve her in person as a result of her current assignment as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain.
At the resumed hearing yesterday, the claimant told the court that the cost of placing an advertisement on a national newspaper was high and will affect his already weakened finances. Debe, who appeared in person and on behalf of the second claimant, Silver Convention Nigeria Limited, said he has filed a motion experte dated March 27, for a varying order in respect of full and effective service on Bianca. He urged the court to grant an order enabling him to serve Bianca either through the Foreign Affairs Ministry or by courier to the country’s embassy in Spain.
Meanwhile, counsel to the Ojukwus (Bianca excluded), George Uwechue (SAN), notified the court of a petition sent to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), filed by one Ogbonnaya Ojukwu Associates and signed by Debe’s wife, accusing Uwechue of tendering false documents in defence before the court. Uwechue urged the court to summon the petitioner to come and proof her point, but Debe, who argued that his wife’s action was not prejudicial, told the court that pursuant to Subsection 55(1), of the LPDC Act, his wife has a right to complain over a process she finds irregularities in.
They are in court over Debe’s claims to Ojukwu’s properties despite the allegation that he was disowned by the late Ojukwu. He is urging the court to declare that he is entitled to the properties of the late Ojukwu, which he said was denied him by those who were supposed to be his brothers. Debe claimed he lost “several contracts, business opportunities and goodwill” due to the “continuous denigration” by the family.
He also claimed that his company, the second claimant, which he was managing on behalf of the family, financed Ojukwu’s burial to the tune of N100 million. He prayed the court to declare that he, “as the first and eldest son of Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu” is “entitled to manage or lead in the management and control of all the disposable assets and belongings” of Ojukwu Transport Limited.
Debe claimed that the family did not let him perform the dust-to-dust burial rites in honour of “his father”.
He asked the court to hold that he is entitled to collect the military paraphernalia used for the burial ceremonies of the late Ojukwu. According to him, his mother, Margaret, gave birth to him to the late Ojukwu on August 3, 1956. He therefore sought a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants “from tampering or interfering in any manner” with any of “his father’s” real and personal estates. He also asked N200 million as general damages against the defendants.
In their statement of defence, the defendants stated that Debe is not their brother. They insisted that Debe and Margaret were never known as members of the Odimegwu-Ojukwu family and only eight people were listed in late Odimegwu-Ojukwu’s will, which was published in a national newspaper December 2, last year and Debe’s name was not in it. The defendants stated that Debe only got involved in managing Silver Convention Nig. Ltd., on behalf of the family through his law firm, Ogbonnaya Ojukwu & Associates, through an agreement with the Ojukwu family meant to subsist from 1995 and 2007.
In her ruling, Oyebanji granted Debe’s prayer to serve Bianca by courier through Nigerian Embassy in Spain within seven days. She said the proof of service of the originating processes on Bianca, the fifth defendant in the suit must be filed in court. On the petition to LPDC, Oyebanji held that it was not prejudicial to the case, noting that a copy of the petition was sent to the court.
She adjourned the case to July 2, for proof of service on Bianca.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=122496:court-orders-service-on-bianca-ojukwu-through-nigerian-embassy-in-spain&catid=1:national&Itemid=559
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