• MADUKA ONYISHI, MADUKA UNIVERSITY AND OTHERS DRAGED TO COURT OVER FAMILY LAND.
• The Amolu-Uwani Family of Ekwegbe Igboetiti Local Government Area of Enugu State has dragged Maduka Onyishi, the owner of Maduka Univerity and Peace Mass Transit to the Enugu State High Court over the family land matter. Copies of the writ of summons and motion on notice for Injunction currently pending at the Ogbede Division of the state High Court in suit No OG/06/2024 filed on 26th March 2024, as obtained by our correspondent listed the following as the 3rd -5th Defendants respectively, SAMUEL MADUKA ONYISHI, REGISTEERED TRUSTEES OF SAMUEL MADUKA ONYISHI FOUNDATION, MADUKA UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT BOARD among other Defendants. The reliiefs sought by the Plaintiffs in the said writ among others prayers include :
• "A DECLARATION that the Amolu-Uwani family in Amudu village, Ekwegbe, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State, comprising of 9 sub-families: Umu Attama, Umu Mbeke, Umu Edeoga, Umu Ugwuidogwu, Umu Ugwu, Umu Ezugwu, Umu Ele, Umu Agbo and Umu Gugu who are the deem holders of right of occupancy/ owners of the large expanse of land contained in the Sketch No 60/2022; Plan no HOU/EN/17/2022 measuring an area 377513.464sqm situate at Ugwu Udelle Agu Ekwegbe in Igbo Etiti LGA of Enugu State, has not shared the said Large expanse of land amongst the members of the Amolu-Uwani family and thus no member of the family can validly claim any portion of the said land nor sale, alienate nor enter an agreement for the sale or alienation of any such portion of the said land which by further description is bordered in the North direction by Obara Stream, the natural boundary between Opi Agu and Agu Ekwegbe , bordered in the East by land originally owned by the Amaezi family, now belonging to Dr. Dan. Shere, bordered in the West by the land belonging to Egbogu family, bordered in the South-West by Umuagogwu kindred’s land and bordered in the South by lands originally belonging to the Umunwogodo kindred.(the said bordering land which originally belong respectively to the Umunwogodo, Umuagogwu, Egbogu (Amairagu), and Ezemararua families are now owned by the 3rd Defendant) .
• "A DECLARATION that the Plaintiffs being the principal members of the Amolu-Uwani family, their consent are required for any valid alienation or transaction of the said land or any part of the said land.
• " A DECLARATION that the agreement signed by the 1st and 2nd Defendant to sell or alienate any part of the said Amolu-Uwani family land to the 3rd Defendant without the consent of the Plaintiffs who are the principal members of the family is invalid, null and void.
• "AN ORDER OF COURT restraining the 3rd to 5th Defendant, either by themselves or though their agents or privies from entering any part of the said Amolu-Uwani family land without the consent of the Plaintiffs for the purpose of carrying out any fencing, excavation, building, construction, development or tampering with the said land in any manner howsoever.
• On 27th March 2024 when the suit came up before the presiding Judge Hon Justice C.A Ogbabor for mention, Counsel to the Plaintiffs Ikechukwu Maximus Ugwuoke Esq moved a motion for substituted service of the processes in the suit on the Defendants. The said motion was granted and the case was adjourned to 30th May 2024 for Motion on Notice.
• Narrating the trajectory of facts leading to the suit in their Statement of Claim, the Plaintiffs stated among other things that
• “ the said Amolu-Uwani family land holds deep historical and spiritual significance for the family. According to their traditions, the land which was occupied by their ancestors from time immemorial serves as "Ala Oluwa", a sacred resting place for deceased members of the family. This belief is further reinforced by the custom that prohibits both male family heads (Onyishi Amolu-Uwani) and married female members of the family from visiting the land. Consequently, the land is being revered and protected for generations.
• “In 2017, one Dr. Dan. Shere offered to purchase the land. However, his proposal was politely declined by the Plaintiffs due to the aforementioned cultural and spiritual attachment of the family to the said land.. Around the same time, the 3rd Defendant also expressed interest in acquiring the land as part of land for his Private University which he superintends under his 4th and 5th Defendant establishments but he received the same response from the Plaintiffs. However, the 3rd Defendant did not want to take no for an answer from the Plaintiffs, Instead, driven by desperation, he devised various ploys to divide the family members and manipulate them into agreeing with him to sell the land the land to him.
• “that despite the family's resistance to a meeting with the 3rd Defendant, the 3rd Defendant persisted and eventually secured a meeting sometime between 2017 and 2019 with the Plaintiffs. There at the meeting, the Plaintiffs’ family stood their ground that they would not sell the land. In an attempt to placate the family, the 3rd Defendant wheedled them with a promise: either to buy a cow for appeasement of the family land, or to purchase another piece of land somewhere else as a replacement. Still in an attempt to persuade the family, he told them that a man can sell anything he owns, even emphasizing that he (the 3rd Defendant) could sell everything he owns except his wife and children. However, the Plaintiffs’ family who would not give into his logic, responded to him that their attachment to the said land is akin to his devotion to his love for his wife and children. Exiting the meeting hall in a dramatic huff, the 3rd Defendant issued a final threat: “Mark my words, in less than a decade, this family will be crawling back to me, begging me to buy the land!"
• “That just months after the contentious meeting, the Ekwegbe Youth intervened and prevented the 3rd Defendant from fencing off a large portion of the land. Undeterred, he attempted to acquire the land through the official channels by reporting the Plaintiffs’ family to the Ekwegbe General Assembly, claiming the family obstructed development of the Community. At a subsequent meeting convened by the General Assembly at the late Igwe N.B.T Ezeani's Palace, both parties presented their cases. Finally, the General Assembly advised the 3rd Defendant to respect the Plaintiffs’ family's clear decision and cease attempt to acquire the land. In spite of the advice, the 3rd Defendant continued pressing the Plaintiffs’ family for the land
• “ that notwithstanding the above resolution, the 3rd Defendant successfully persuaded 1st Defendant to collaborate with 2nd Defendant to execute a temporary sale agreement of part of the said land to him. Both 1st and 2nd Defendants signed a document outlining the terms and acknowledging a partial payment of 5 million naira, serving as evidence of their arrangement. The family considers this deal dishonest. The Plaintiff pleads and shall found on a copy of the said agreement and hereby give the said Defendants to produce the original copy.
• “The Plaintiffs state that from the beginning, the 3RD Defendant was informed that the land was not for sale. Furthermore, as a native of Nsukka familiar with its customs, the 3rd Defendant should be aware that, even if the land were available, the 1st and 2nd Defendants who are the young men the 3rd Defendant dealt with lacked the authority to sell the land or any part of it without the elders consent. Moreover, the agreed price of 400 thousand naira per plot significantly undervalues the land, which would be worth at least 3.5 million naira per plot if it were on the market.