LAGOS, Nigeria – A Lagos High Court has delivered judgment in favour of Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, widow of the late Biafran warlord and Igbo leader Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and her two children, over the control of some of the assets of Ojukwu Transport Ltd, OTL.
The ruling, handed down on June 24, 2023, by Justice A. M. Lawal, marked the culmination of nearly a decade-long legal battle over key properties in Lagos, including the family residence at No. 29 Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos.
At the heart of the suit, filed in 2012, was an alleged attempt by the late Ojukwu’s brothers and their sons to seize possession of properties previously under the management and control of the deceased, a director of OTL before he died in 2011.
In the judgment, Justice Lawal noted that the claimants, as the biological children of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, are “entitled to the estate of their father, as well as his entitlements as a deceased director and shareholder of the Ist defendant.”
Furthermore, the court recognized the long-standing practice of allowing family members to live on and derive income from the company’s assets.
Justice Lawal emphasized that “equity is fairness and fairness is equity,” ruling that the claimants are entitled to possess and control what their late father controlled in OTL when he was alive.
“Therefore, the claimants are entitled to possess and control what their late father possessed and controlled in the company, OTL, when he was alive,” he declared.
The court’s ruling was firm in upholding the claimants’ rights, stating, “That the threat of forceful ejection of the claimants from No. 29 Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos, by the defendants is illegal.”
The 2nd to 8th defendants were subsequently restrained from interfering with the claimants’ possession and control of the disputed properties.
A counterclaim by the defendants was struck out for lack of competence.
This landmark ruling draws a definitive line under an acrimonious dispute that has pitted family members against each other, casting a shadow over the legacy of one of Nigeria’s most iconic figures.
The ruling was met with satisfaction from the legal representatives of Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu and her children.
Supporters of the family viewed it as a triumph of justice and a vindication of the rights of the widow and her children to the contested properties.
Present at the judgment were the 1st, 5th, and 8th defendants, with the 5th defendant, a director of OTL, representing the company.
The ruling will likely resonate beyond the courtroom, offering a precedent for similar family disputes over property and inheritance in the country’s complex legal landscape.
