Family
members of the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu have asked a Federal High
Court in Lagos to dismiss the N100m suit filed by Debe Ojukwu, challenging his
exclusion from the burial rites of the deceased.
The
family members, including the deceased’s wife, Bianca, and Emeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu, named as the first son in the Ikemba Nnewi’s Will, opposed the
suit, declaring that Debe was not a member of the Odimegwu-Ojukwu family.
Though
Bianca had yet to have any legal representation in the suit, others, including
Emeka, who responded to the suit, faulted Debe’s claim that he was Ojukwu’s
first son.
Emeka
and other members of the family are asking the court to dismiss the suit for
lack of jurisdiction.
Ikemba
died on November 11, 2011 at age 78.
In the
counter-affidavits filed by the respondents through their lawyer, Chief George
Uwechue (SAN), they contended that the applicant did not appear in the late
warlord’s Will as one of his children.
Emeka,
in an affidavit, said he was not aware of any Margaret, who Debe claimed to be
his mother, as his late father’s wife.
He
stated, “The applicant, to the best of my knowledge, as well as to the Ojukwu
family, is not and has never been a grand-child of the late Sir L.P.O Ojukwu.
“The
applicant is not the son or the first son of my father, Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu.
“The
last Will and Testament of my late father, dated July 9, 2005, duly certified
by the Probate Registry Enugu, did not include the name of the claimant in the
list of his eight children.
“I was
listed as No. 2 and the eldest male child. He (the late Ikemba Nnewi)
specifically named me as his ‘first son.”
Debe, a
lawyer, is seeking a declaration that the alleged threat to his life by the
respondents amounted to a violation of his rights.
He
alleged, in the suit filed on October 5, 2012, that the respondents threatened
his life during meetings for the deceased’s burial in Lagos, a development that
resulted in his not performing the funeral rites of his “father”.
He,
therefore, sought N100m as exemplary and punitive damages against the
respondents for the alleged violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed by
provisions Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution.
Credits
to Ade Adesomoju
debe is not ojukwus son
ReplyDeletedebe is a bastard
ReplyDeleteis it true that debe was born ude and changed his name to ojukwu ?
ReplyDeletedebe is a known 419 guy in lagos, why you know make noise when ojukwu was alive, its too late now
ReplyDelete