Saturday 8 September 2012

Bianca’s lawyer warns Ojukwus over properties

THE silent war over the
management of some
properties belonging
to Ojukwu Transport
Limited, OTL, has taken
another dimension as
the wife of the late
Ikemba Nnewi, Dim
Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu,
Ambassador Bianca
Ojukwu, through her
lawyer, has insisted
that the estate
management agent,
allegedly appointed by
her late husband, Mr.
Emmanuel Omuojine of
Omuojine & Associates,
would remain in
charge of the five
properties in Lagos.
Directors of OTL,
Professor Joseph
Ojukwu (Chairman),
Engr. Emmanuel
Ojukwu, Mr. Lotanna P.
Ojukwu, Dr. P. Ike
Ojukwu, Arc Edward
Ojukwu and Mr.
Lotanna A. Ojukwu,
had, in a recent public
notice, disowned the
agent, saying that at
no time was he
appointed by the
company’s board of
directors to manage
any of their properties.
The properties in
question are, 13
Hawksworth Road,
Ikoyi (now 13 Ojora
Road, Ikoyi) Lagos; 32A
Commercial Avenue,
Yaba, Lagos; 29 Queens
Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos; 30
Gerrard Road, Ikoyi,
Lagos and 4
Macpherson Avenue,
Ikoyi, Lagos.
Counsel for Mrs.
Ojukwu, Emeka
Onyemelukwe of
Emeka Onyemelukwe
& Associates, in a letter,
dated May 28, in
response to a letter by
the OTL counsel, Ifeanyi
Okumah of Sterling
Attorneys, Enugu
asking Omuojine to
hands off the
properties, informed
the directors that the
management firm was
appointed by the late
Ojukwu to manage the
said properties under
his care and was not
relieved of that
responsibility until the
late Ikemba Nnewi’s
demise.
Okumah, writing on
behalf of the OTL
Directors, in a letter
dated May 17, 2012,
informed Omuojine
and Associates that
Massey Udegbe and Co
had been duly
appointed
management agent of
OTL properties in Lagos
and that he (Omuojine)
should not in any
manner interfere with
the firm (Massey
Udegbe) in carrying out
its duties.
“You are reminded of
the serious
consequences of not
adhering to the above
and that to continue to
parade yourself and/or
your company as an
agent of OTL
constitutes economic
breaches which are
criminal in nature and
highly unprofessional,”
Okumah stated.
He further asked
Omuojine to provide
OTL with itemized list
of all monies he
collected while
managing the said
properties for several
years and remit same
to the company,
adding that he should
among other thing
“cease and desist from
holding yourself out to
be their managing
agent”.
Besides, the OTL
counsel requested
Omuojine to furnish
the company with
concrete documentary
evidence of his
appointment as the
company’s managing
agent including the
management
agreement and power
of attorney
purportedly issued to
him as well as the
statement of account
of the funds so far
collected.
But replying the OTL
Directors on behalf of
Mrs. Ojukwu, Emeka
Onyemelukwe, her
counsel, said “Messrs
Omuojine & Associates
were appointed by late
Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu, to
manage those
properties under his
care”, adding that
“they have not been
relieved of that
responsibility by late
Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu
until his demise.”
“As our client, the next
of kin, to the deceased
Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu,
has not also relieved
them of that
responsibility. We
therefore see your
demands from them as
spurious and fishy,”
Onyemelukwe stated,
explaining that the
properties of OTL had
for many years been
managed by three
separate branches of
the family.”
He disclosed that
Omuojine manages
some of the properties
under the care of the
late Ikemba Nnewi,
insisting that “Massey
Udegbe & Co has no
business disturbing the
properties under the
care and management
of Omuojine &
Associates.”
“May we then use this
opportunity to warn
that you (Okumah) call
your client, Messrs
Massey Udegbe & Co,
and the unknown
director who briefed
you to order. They
should not in any way
disturb the tenants,
who reside, and or
carry on their
legitimate businesses
on those properties
under the care and
management of Messrs
Omuojine & Associates,
in any form or manner
inimical to those
tenants’ interests. If
they do so, we may
have to resort to
appropriate measure/s
to stop them,” Mrs.
Ojukwu’s lawyers
further wrote.
When contacted on the
seeming face-off, one
of the OTL Directors, Dr.
P. Ike Ojukwu, said that
there was no
complication
whatsoever, explaining
that the properties in
question belonged to
OTL.

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