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Justice James Kolawole Omotosho noted that Dumo's suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1481/2021, was the same as FHC/ABJ/CS/1576/2019, which was discontinued by Justice Taiwo Taiwo on September 30, 2021, and which is pending on appeal before the Court of Appeal.

The judge held that Dumo's fresh suit constituted an abuse of court processes and did not deserve further hearing by his court.

The 1st to 4th plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1481/2021 are Senibo Lulu-Briggs, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Sofiri Lulu-Briggs, 'Chima Onimin Lulu-Briggs.'

The defendants are Mrs Seinye Lulu-Briggs, Incorporated Trustees of the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, Rachael Lulu-Briggs, Solate Ovundah-Akarolo, Moni Pulo Ltd and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The defendants, through their lawyers, challenged the plaintiffs' claims.

They asked the court to consider if: Having freely, unequivocally and fully transferred their entire shareholding to the late High Chief O. B. Lulu-Briggs in two settlements and having received consideration which the plaintiffs acknowledged as valuable and sufficient for such transfer ($3million to Dumo Lulu-Briggs in 2003 and the other $5million to Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Senibo Lulu-Briggs and Sofiri Lulu-Briggs in 2004), whether the plaintiffs could rightly turn around to impugn the said share transfer.

They also asked the court whether the action is not statute-barred by virtue of the provision of Section 11 of the Limitation Act, having been filed 12 years after the date of the consent judgment on 18th May 2004, and;

“Whether by virtue of the pendency of Appeal Nos.: CA/ABJ/CV/859/ 2021, CA/ABJ/CV/681/2021 and CA/ABJ/CV/29/2022, the suit did not constitute a gross abuse of the process of court.”

The defendants also urged the court whether it has the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

Justice Omotosho, in a February 15, 2023, ruling, agreed with the defendants.

He held: “I hold without hesitation that filing a fresh suit on a subject between parties on appeal is an abuse of court process.”

“The fresh suit as in the instant suit is nothing than to overreach and make the outcome of the pending appeal nugatory…Filing this instant suit on the same subject matter and reliefs and against the same parties is vexatious and nothing more than a gross abuse of the process of the Court.”

Justice Omotosho further agreed with argument of the 1st to 5th Defendants that the suit was an abuse of court process.

He added: “This court will not allow its processes to be used in such as frivolous and vexatious manner. Consequently, the instant suit before the court is hereby declared to be an abusive process and as such it is dismissed.”

“Having dismissed the suit for being an abuse of court process, the other issue formulated goes to no issue.”

The plaintiffs had asked the court to annul an earlier agreement between Dumo, his two brothers and their father, the late O.B. Lulu-Briggs.

According to the defendants, the two agreements reached by the parties stated that they would cease to be shareholders in Moni Pulo Ltd if they were paid off, which was done in two tranches in 2003 and 2004 after they allegedly attempted to take the company from their father.

It was also said that they also agreed to make no future claims over Moni Pulo or to have any association with it for the rest of their lives.

The plaintiffs prayed the court to, among other reliefs, make a declaration that the “fundamental terms of the settlement agreement between the 1st and 3rd plaintiffs and their father, High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs (the deceased) on the 13th of May, 2004 have been breached by the deceased based on the share transfers made to his wife Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs on 29th February 2012, thereby rendering the said terms of settlement liable to be set aside.”

The plaintiffs also introduced a new claimant, one Chima Onimin (4th Plaintiff), whom they said wanted to be recognised as the owner of 3,250, 000 shares in the firm, which amounted to 0.81% of the firm's total shareholding.

They prayed the court to mandate Moni Pulo (the 5th defendant in the suit) to pay the said Onimin “the dividends and all other rights, benefits and entitlements that have accrued and/or accruing to the 4th Plaintiff as a shareholder in the company.”

Dumo's suit was filed by Damian Dodo, SAN, whose firm, D.D. Dodo and Co. represented Dumo and his brothers in the settlement agreement between them and their father in 2003 and in 2004.

Two decades later, on behalf of the same clients, the plaintiffs hired the same law firm to ask the court to annul the agreement despite knowing that their clients had received payment for their shares and the matter had been laid to rest.

The plaintiffs, through their lawyers, claimed that the payment they received notwithstanding, their shares in Moni Pulo remained intact and that their father held them in trust, considering his continuing love and affection. They claimed that upon the death of their father in 2018, the shares ought to have reverted to them.

https://www.nationalnetworkonline.com/news/10509-court-throws-out-dumo-lulu-briggs-lawsuit-challenging-ownership-of-moni-pulo

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Members of the Fund Advisory Committee of the recently launched N50m High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs Griatrics Care Endowment Fund, on Wednesday, 9th June embarked on a courtesy visit to the Vice Chancellor of the Rivers State University, Professor Nlerum Okogbule.

The visit, the first by the Committee, was to familiarize with the University management in furtherance of the Committee’s work.
Recall that on Saturday 22nd May 2021, the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation launched the High Chief (Dr.) O. B. Lulu-Briggs N50m Geriatrics Care Endowment Fund during the Inaugural High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs Memorial Lecture.

According to Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, Chairman of the Foundation, the Geriatrics Endowment Fund will support the advancement of scientific, occupational therapeutic, educational research and multidisciplinary medical care; the training of multidisciplinary medical professionals in Geriatric Medicine and related fields; and the establishment of a world class Geriatrics Medical Unit at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. It would also help towards the achievement of any other purposes which shall be deemed relevant to the establishment of a Geriatrics Medical Unit at RSU’s Teaching Hospital and in the development of Geriatrics Medicine in the University.

“From a knowledge-building perspective, research and data on the quality of life and health status of older persons in Nigeria is extremely limited,” Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs, said during the inauguration of the High Chief (Dr.) O. B. Lulu-Briggs Geriatrics Care Endowment Fund.

“Even before the COVID 19 pandemic, many of our elderly did not have ready access to appropriate, quality and affordable health care. Furthermore, when they visit health care facilities older people face age-related stigma and discrimination. And there is a lack of health workers with the skills and expertise to care for older people. These factors deter many older people from seeking health care and also hinder proper diagnosis and care.” Mrs Lulu-Briggs drew from her personal experience of taking care of her late husband and had first-hand experience of the specialised nature of geriatric care.

“I understand why these factors deter many older people in Nigeria from going to the hospital when they are ill and how they hinder proper diagnosis and care,” she said.

She noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has further put a spotlight on senior citizens’ health issues around the world and how it is connected to those belonging to the younger population bracket.

“It quickly became evident that older people and those with underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk of death and grave sickness from the COVID-19 disease,” she said.

Members of the Endowment Fund Advisory Committee on the visit to the University were: Ms. Valerie Young-Harry; Honourable Wogu Boms; Professor Chituru Orluwene, Provost, College of Medical Science, (RSU), Professor Hope Bell-Gam, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Mr. Oribi Anaye, the Committee’s Secretary and Legal Adviser.

The Registrar of the Rivers State University, Dr. S. C. Enyindah was also present at the meeting.

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O. B. LULU-BRIGGS FOUNDATION’S 34TH FREE MEDICAL MISSION FLAGGED OFF IN ISIOKPO, RIVERS STATE

Yesterday March 8, 2021 the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation flagged off its 34th Free Medical Mission, in the ancient city of Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria.

A large crowd was seen patiently waiting to receive treatment from a team of 83 medical and 57 non-medical volunteers. The health services being offered include general medical services, surgeries, dental care, pediatric care, physiotherapy and optometric care and surgeries. There is also a standard laboratory and pharmacy on-site.

The Isiokpo Free Medical Mission is being held at the Adanta Primary Healthcare Center in partnership with the Ogbakor Ikwerre, USA/Canada an NGO of Ikwerre people residing in the diaspora.

Since 2005 the Foundation has taken healthcare to the grassroots through its Free Medical Missions in communities across the Niger Delta in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers State. Over 128,000 people have benefitted to date.

In a statement issued by the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, she commended its volunteers, Ogbakor Ikwerre USA/Canada and the Ikwerre Local Government Council for partnering with the Foundation to provide health information and care to families. She also called on the indigent within and around Ikwerre Local Government Area to take advantage of the medical mission to address their healthcare needs. She gave assurances of the continued support of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation in implementing sustainable interventions that enhance the quality of life of under-served persons at the community level.

A young mother expressed gratitude to the Foundation, “I am going home with medication for my three children who have been very ill this period of corona. I also got treatment for malaria. God bless the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation.”

David Amachree
Press Officer, O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation

EBUBE DIKE, OUR GREAT GOD: THE PERFECT ORGANIZER

This is a story about Bibian, a dear friend of mine. About the entire month of November 2020, she had persistent headaches. She visited her doctor who prescribed pain relievers for her. In December 2020, the pains had became excruciating. The pain relievers didn't work any more. But somehow she managed to go about her work and life with it like most of us do in Nigeria. Our endurance level appears to be the exception to Hooke's law on elasticity.

Putting the pain behind her, Bibian and her siblings Chidinma and Kasi decided to take a short trip to Zanzibar for Christmas. It had been a terrible year marred by COVID-19. People just wanted to breathe and at least begin the difficult path to having their sanity restored.

What was meant to be a simple process became so complicated. First, their visas were delayed. Then when the visas were issued, finding a flight became almost impossible. A trip that was meant for Christmas was delayed until the 31st of December 2020.

She almost called off the trip. In fact, she complained of how a country like Tanzania would have such a rigorous visa issuing process. She wondered why she and her sister had to cough out an additional N100,000 per person to get a flight after missing their initial flight due to the late issuance of their visas. Was it even worth it? They wondered. But for their sister who was already in Tanzania, having flown in from the UK, they would have called off the journey. The roadblocks were just too much.

You would see later that while all these were going on, Ebube Dike, Our Great God, The Perfect Organiser was orchestrating things for their favour. You would see how when things don't go our way after doing all that we possibly can to achieve them, we just need to concede to the will and purpose of God, especially when it is our daily prayer to work in God’s will and purpose.

They arrived Dar es Salam, Tanzania on the first day of the new year 2021. Spent sometime there before going on a Safari in Arusha, a different city. The last Port of call in the vacation was Zanzibar.

The trip to the island of Zanzibar was life-altering. Besides the fun that it presented it was also the perfect bubble for good tourism on the continent. The experience was surreal, they said. What struck them first on arrival at Zanzibar, a predominantly Muslim society, was the exceptional goodness of the people even to themselves. Each person greeted the other courteously and was genuinely interested in the good of the other. They noticed that this was not just a thing they did to warm up to strangers but among themselves. They also noticed they were a completely honest people. So honest that they take it for granted that there's dishonesty in the world. Honesty is so deeply entrenched in Zanzibar that Cab drivers don't count the fares they receive from their passengers. They just chock it down somewhere as they receive it. This is happening in Africa.

They also love Nigerians as they do all Africans. The reputation of Nigerians as big spenders precedes every Nigerian there. My well travelled friend, Bibian and her sisters Chidinma and Kasi, noted this for a fact and concluded that Zanzibar was a welcoming hub for Africans; sort of a safe space on the continent for to breathe and feel alive.

The only thing that kind of bothered Bibian were those persistent headaches that wouldn't go. They had become intense. More like sucking up the energy of her entire existence into her head. They seem likely primed to explode by a timed buzzer. The strong pills she was placed on had all lost their efficacy. Nothing seemed to work. But she endured. Like all Nigerians, numbed to the pain of our existence, she fought on. The headaches would not spoil her fun.

Then tragedy struck. She collapsed on the very day she arrived Stone Town in Zanzibar. While she wanted to continue to move on, her body could no longer carry the weight of the misnomer. It happened at Tembo Hotels in Zanzibar, where she lodged along with her sisters. It seemed like the end of her existence. She had switched off. Numbed to life itself. At least almost so.

She was rushed to a nearby private hospital. Jav and Rahim, the managers of Tembo Hotels who were relatives managing their family business visited her at the hospital to see how she was doing. Thankfully she was revived there and a scan was done as part of the investigation to ascertain the cause of her ailment. They broke the sad news to the trio, Bibian, Chidinma and Kasi, innocent sisters who just wanted to breathe. Bibian has a blood clot on her brain and had to have an emergency brain surgery performed on her.

That was bad enough. When they were told the cost, it made it worse. Where could they get access to £7,000 to pay for the emergency brain surgery in Zanzibar of all places? As if that was not bad enough, the surgery would have to be performed in Dar es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania. The trouble was, even if they had the money on them, how would she be allowed to fly in her vegetable state. Time was running out.

But without minding the imposing roadblocks, they made efforts to get money to ensure they stood a good chance at having the surgery done. But, unfortunately and sadly so, all walls were impregnable. There was no way of getting money through their debit cards although they could access funds in Nigeria. The Central Bank of Nigeria's conflicting fiscal policies have made our debit cards virtually useless abroad. It dawned on them. There was no way they were getting access to their money from Zanzibar. Just no way. She had collapsed on the first day of their visit to Stone Town Zanzibar and just a few days to their return to Nigeria. The money they had on them was to sustain them and for basic transportation back to Nigeria.

As the clock ticked away, and her life hung in the balance, the windows of opportunities for help came closing in on them. Her life was slipping away. Amidst her bouts of illusory consciousness, she begged her sisters to do anything they could to get her back to Nigeria. It was not because she believed she would get the help she needed in Nigeria. She just didn't want to die in Zanzibar and end up further complicating the travails of her loving and ever-supportive Sisters. She believed dying in Nigeria was a more manageable crisis for her siblings and family. What she didn't know was that Ebube Dike, Our Great God, the Perfect Organiser was doing what He knows best to do. It was all His unfolding plan. He is the only One who knows the end from the beginning. He is the Greatest Strategist and the source of infinite intelligence, knowledge and influence. He had it all figured out. He had the full picture. And everything was going according to plan even amidst the ensuing crisis that they could find no leeway from.

She had to be moved to a Government hospital eventually because they couldn't access their funds for the brain surgery and she also couldn't fly out of Zanzibar in her condition. They were told there was only one NeuroSurgeon in the whole of Zanzibar and he was at the Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, just about three minutes drive from their hotel. Given that it was the only ray of hope left, the very last flare of the ebbing flame, they had no option but to take her there. All these while the hotel managers Jav and Rahim had remained with them, taking them around either to buy drugs in the middle of the night or to find solution to the unfolding calamitous imbroglio. Tembo hotels continued to serve them food and kept phones around Zanzibar ringing just to ensure their guests had medical attention. That was how they knew about Dr. Said Idrissa Ahmada, a Ukrainian and Chinese trained Neurosurgeon who goes by the nickname 'Dr. Saidovich.'

Dr. Saidovich, a very unassuming and innocuous man, said he could perform the brain surgery. At this time Bibian was no longer part of the conversation. She had switched off and was on her way back to her Maker, the one she loved so dearly and whom she had served so faithfully.

Bibian is one of the few persons I can vouch for. She loved God genuinely and was also a genuinely good person. She is so nice that I have never had a beef with her and that is pretty strange, to think of it. I generate beefs on a regular and if you can't manage my beef as a friend, too bad for you, not me. Anyway, such is the purity of her being that even God would probably think twice before letting such a great soul return to Him.

On hearing the confidence of Dr. Saidovich, Chidinma, objected to his bid to perform the brain surgery on Bibian. She felt both Dr. Saidovich and the entire Mnazi Mmoja Hospital didn't give the assurances she needed. It was a matter of life and death and this was her Sister. She had to be pretty sure.

"How many surgeries have you performed?" An emotional Chidinma, who was losing her beloved Sister queried. The Private hospital gave her more assurances not what she was seeing at the Government Hospital. It was reminiscent of visiting any public health facility in Nigeria, something most of us, reasonably privileged citizens, don't do.

Dr. Saidovich calmly reassured her. He showed her proofs of the many brain surgeries he had performed. He told her there had not been a single fatality.

'Insha Allah, this will go well too," he said.

While his reassurance seemed to build her confidence, the 'insha Allah' shook it. It might be 50/50, she thought. It could go any way. Drawing strength from the hope of it going good and placing her faith in God, she consented to the surgery.

All the hospital staff were so warm. Bibian recalls receiving blessings even from other patients managing their own ailments. She wondered what sort of creatures were in Zanzibar. Why and how can these people be so good? A nurse even went as far as holding her hands and telling her that she would not let anything bad happen to her. Such infectious humanity! Purified love! Damn!

I wept when Bibian told me this story. No. I didn't shed a tear. I cried like a baby and you're more likely just about to join me. If Bibian didn't understand why she was in Tanzania and having this special experience, I did. I got the memo she did not see, just as she briefed me about her experience. A good person like her would only be pampered by God himself. He knew exactly where to take her to and to prove to her that he regulates the affairs of humanity. All her seeds of innocuous goodness, sown for only God knows how long, were being drawn in massive returns. Angels were active to ensure she got treated like Daddy’s little baby. She hasn’t gotten it yet and may only get it after reading this from me. Then she would cry again, like a baby, just as I did.

The brain surgery was successful. What could have cost her £7,000 to perform was done free of charge. Yes, go ahead and cry. I just wept again. Ebube Dike, the perfect organiser took her to the island nation of Zanzibar to save her life for free, and to show her that He is God.

All the travel and visa delays they had experienced were just to ensure they were at the right place and the right time. If she had travelled at the time she originally planned, she would have been back to Nigeria earlier. The result would be that she would probably have died in Nigeria, given that she was basically being treated for headache. She also didn't collapse in Dar es Salam because that would mean spending at £7,000 that they didn't have on them at the time and couldn't source for locally. The hiccups in their travel plans were to ensure she was at the right place at the right time to get the right treatment for free and the clear message from God that He is indeed God who rules over the entire firmament!

There is only one Neurosurgeon in the whole of Zanzibar and he is Dr. Saidovich Idrissa Ahmada. He could have been anywhere else but Zanzibar on that day. But Ebube Dike, Our Great God, the origin and originator of strategy itself, had organised all things for her good. He sorted her out and relaxed to see it play out.

Why was the surgery free? At the Mnazi Mmoja Hospital it just so happened that healthcare is free for all citizens and there is no arrangement to charge foreigners. Except that would change after this story goes viral. Bibian was told by the hospital authorities to take her free treatment as a blessing from God. Dr. Saidovich refused gratifications for saving her life. He said he was just doing his job.

Bibian is still overwhelmed. She is healing just fine without a single headache since the surgery. In two days, after the surgery, she was back on her feet. She has since returned to Nigeria where she spent N100,000 on the first day of her consultancy with a neurosurgeon who spent just about 10 minutes with her and yes there was also that angry nurse that doesn’t know how to talk. If Bibian had fainted in Nigeria, the surgery would probably have cost her about 7 million naira minimum but she would probably not have made it either due to traffic or the non-availability of a doctor.

There are too many lessons to learn from this story. Most of all, it is about being good. Being good a seed whose harvest cannot but be drawn at the nick of time. Bibian is grateful to God. She has every reason to be. He is bankable! Dependable! Reliable! And He pays…He pays in huge returns as you can see. She is grateful to God for orchestrating her recovery.

As her friend, I use this opportunity to thank all Zanzibaris for being such a lovely breed of Africans. It is unfortunate that great stories of Africa like Zanzibar are obscured by the continent’s shortcomings. Bibian's experience has made Zanzibar a destination we should all visit for tourism and an enriching life experience. Let's remember Dr. Saidovich and the good people of Zanzibar in our prayers always. Let’s share this story across continents. Let’s spread goodness. We never can tell when we will need to draw from it. Please share as you please.

Sincere gratitude to the Government and people of Zanzibar!
Thank you, all Staff and Management of Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Stone Town!
Thank you, Dr 'Saidovich' Idrissa Ahmada (He is on Facebook)
Thank you, all staff and management of Tembo Hotels, Stone Town, especially to Jav and Rahim.
Thank you Ebube Dike, Our Great God and Perfect Organiser, who remains UNFAILING AND NEVER LATE.

Oraye St. Franklyn
Friend of Bibian

The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Joseph Mukan psc, has commended the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for its yuletide outreach to the Rivers State Police Command and in particular, the widows of fallen heroes of the command.

The Police Boss made the commendation while receiving bags of rice donated by the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation as part of its Christmas outreach to the Rivers State Police Command.

The elated Police Boss said he was surprised to have received the news that the Foundation was visiting the command to reach out to both widows of fallen heroes and the Police Command. CP Joseph Mukan commended the Foundation for its passion for widows and prayed God to increase the efforts of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation as well as those of Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation.

On his part, Brigadier General Tayo Adio, Garrison Commander of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army Port Harcourt, who received the items on behalf of the Acting General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Major General Ibrahim Mohammed Jallo, while expressing gratitude to the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for its laudable gesture, gave assurances that the bags of rice would be adequately distributed to widows of fallen heroes and officers of the Division.

The Christmas outreach of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation has seen the Foundation distribute bags of rice to communities, critical state institutions and vulnerable persons within the Niger Delta region. Some of the beneficiaries of the Christmas outreach include the Port Harcourt Correctional Center, Port Harcourt Children Home, Home for the Elderly, Degema Correctional Center, Special School for the Handicapped and the Port Harcourt Remand Home for Juveniles. Communities in Oron, Buguma, Abonnema, Okpo and others in the far-flung fringes of the Niger Delta are also benefitting from the outreach, resulting in immeasurable relief and an outpouring of gratitude.

In her Christmas message to beneficiaries, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, Chairman Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, urges Christ-like love, brotherliness and an unflinching devotion to Almighty God at all times.

Oraye St. Franklyn Esq.
Spokesman, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs

BREAKING! COURT DISMISSES SUIT BY DUMO LULU-BRIGGS CHALLENGING FATHER'S LAST WILL

A Port Harcourt High Court has today, Monday 14th December 2020 dismissed a suit brought before it by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs and two of his four brothers: Senibo Lulu-Briggs and Sofiri Lulu-Briggs challenging the admission of the Last Will and Testament of High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs to probate.

By this ruling the last wishes and legacies of the late High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs have been fundamentally protected and stand as admitted to probate.

NISS HONOUR O. B. LULU-BRIGGS FOUNDATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO NATION BUILDING

The National Institute of Security Studies (NISS) on Friday 4th December 2020 honoured the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation with an award for exceptional contribution to nation building.

Receiving the award on behalf of the Foundation, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the Foundation, said it was a long and enduring tradition of her family to associate with and support security agencies.

According to her, “That tradition finds its roots in the philosophy of our patriarch, statesman and nationalist, my dearly beloved husband of blessed memory, High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs. He believed that those who sacrifice their time and lives in the care and protection of others, tower higher on the scale of honour in society and, therefore, deserve more support for their exceptional sacrifices.”

Represented by Mrs Valerie Young-Harry, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs said, her family’s tradition was the reason for her sponsorship of the construction of the Entrance Pavilion of the National Institute for Security Studies, which the Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation graciously approved. “Our sponsorship of the Legacy Project is in keeping with the philosophical legacy of my husband, High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs,” she added.

Commandant of National Institute for Security Studies Alhaji A. S. Adeleke, fsi, mni, presented the award at a glamorous Graduation and Award Night ceremony of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 13 of the Institute held in Abuja, Nigeria. Dignitaries from within Nigeria and across the West African sub-region attended the event, which had Governor of Imo State Sen. Hope Uzodinma, as the Special Guest of Honour.

Oraye St. Franklyn Esq.
Spokesman, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs
5 December, 2020

..

O. B. LULU-BRIGGS FOUNDATION INAUGURATES AGRO PROJECT TO BOOST FOOD SECURITY AND SUPPORT RURAL FARMERS

To commemorate the 19th anniversary of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation on September 21st, the foundation launched the Rural Agriculture Intervention Scheme for Sustainable Enterprise (RAISE) at Elibrada, a predominantly agrarian community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The RAISE project according to Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, “aims to raise the economic value and capacity of our rural farmers by empowering them with the highly needed modern tools and skills to extract the best benefits from their agro enterprise.”

Mrs Lulu-Briggs said the RAISE Project was being kicked off with the Cassava Value-Chain pilot programme “which will see farmers in Elibrada, draw benefit from the full value-chain of Cassava farming and processing.” According to her, “the project goes beyond subsistence farming. It will be a purely commercial venture and will culminate in the processing of cassava for the production of garri, starch and the like with the aid of latest technology and machinery” at a factory to be set up in the community.
“Our belief at the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation that agriculture is a lucrative business that can become a veritable source of life-long empowerment for communities in the Niger Delta, especially in challenging times like this, is what drives this initiative. This is why we have earmarked funds for the successful implementation of the project,” she assured while speaking through Chief Clifford Daerego, who represented her at the event.

On his part, in welcoming the Foundation’s delegation to Elibrada Community during the flagging-off ceremony of the RAISE project, the paramount ruler of the community, Chief Oha Abel Obilor thanked Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs and the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for the thoughtful gesture of choosing Elibrada Community as the site for such a monumental project. He conveyed the appreciation of the entire community including the women and youth to the foundation and assured it of the support and cooperation of the community at ensuring the successful implementation of the project.

The event, which drew attendance from a cross section of leaders and members of Elibrada community, the Vice Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area, Hon. Ngozi Nyemonwe also had in attendance a prominent Rivers State Politician Chief Emeh Glory Emeh, who commended the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for siting the project at Elibrada. Chief Emeh also extolled the virtues of Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, whom he hailed for carrying on with the laudable legacies of her beloved husband of blessed memory, High Chief (Dr.) O. B. Lulu-Briggs, a man who touched many lives with his exceptional philanthropy.

The high point of the event was the presentation of land by the community to the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation as the project site for the Cassava Value-Chain farm and processing factory, which was received on its behalf by the Coordinator of Programmes of the O. B. Lulu Briggs Foundation, Mrs. Ineba Tongkam.

RIVERS WIDOWS GET TOLL-FREE LINE AS O. B. LULU-BRIGGS FOUNDATION, AFRICAN WOMEN LAWYERS PARTNER ON SUPPORT

The O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation in partnership with the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) Rivers State has released a toll-free number for the assistance of widows in the State.

The release of the toll-free number 0800-0023-111 was made during a special Webinar to commemorate this year’s International Widow’s Day. The event, organized by the Rivers State Chapter of the African Women Association in partnership with the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation was chaired by Hon. Justice Margaret Opara of the Nigerian Court of Appeal and drew participation from the judicial and civil society community beyond Nigeria. Panelists at the webinar included Dr. Mandy Asagba, the International President of AWLA, Mrs. Cordelia Eke, the Chairlady of AWLA Rivers State, Mrs. Chinwe Ezenwa, Dr. Camelita Agborubere, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, PPRO of the Nigeria Police, Rivers State Command, I. B. Tariah among others.

Speaking during the event, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs, noted that this year’s theme for the International Widows’ Day, “Invisible Women, Invisible Problems” conveyed the fact that the deplorable plights widows faced when their husbands die remained obscure in development circles. She said the United Nations recognized that widows across the world were often ‘invisible’ to policymakers when they draw up and execute policies and are “‘Invisible’ to researchers when they carry out studies on poverty. ‘Invisible’ to community members when ‘culture and patriarchy’ dictate behavior. ‘Invisible’ in families where they lose their status as soon as their husbands die,” she said.

Adding that “try as we may, to make widows ‘invisible’, they are very much a part of our communities. Widows are definitely not invisible to the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation. It is for this reason that, in partnership with the African Women Lawyers Association, Rivers State, we are hosting a webinar on ‘Today’s Widow, the Way Forward.’ This, to me, underscores the need for action rather than laborious postulations in addressing the problems and challenges that widows in Nigeria face. For me – and millions of women around the world - this is not a mere academic exercise.”

Recounting the horror of her experience as a widow, she said ‘It is now a matter of public record that since my beloved husband, High Chief (Dr) O. B. Lulu-Briggs passed away in Accra, Ghana on December 27, 2018, I have been at the receiving end of the most calculated, scurrilous and heartrending assault. A major – and ongoing – propaganda campaign was launched to besmirch me. I have been subjected to the most gruelling false accusations and attacks which were unleashed to break my spirit and strip me of my rights because my traducers felt that I, as a woman and a widow, should neither be seen nor heard.”

She said in spite of her personal visibility and appreciable support structures, she was subjected to such a harrowing experience and wondered what could be the fate of other widows who may not be that fortunate.

According to her, “Our partnership with AWLA among others, already offers free legal services, material support and scholarships to indigent widows in Rivers State, including widows of fallen heroes of the Nigerian Army. I believe creating change in the lives of embattled Widows requires multilateral Institutional efforts. To this end I am happy to announce that from today a Rivers State Widows Legal Assistance toll-free 24/7 hotline number 0800-0023-111 is open for widows to reach out for help.”

Participants and panelists at the webinar jointly condemned harmful widowhood practices both within Rivers State and across Africa. They made the commitment to continue to champion the rights of widows and protect them from all forms of discrimination on account of their being widows.

https://leadership.ng/2020/06/24/lulu-briggs-foundation-women-lawyers-offer-toll-free-line-to-support-rivers-widows/

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La Sien Bottling Company on Friday donated a state-of-the art ambulance to the Rivers State Government to support its COVID-19 containment efforts. Professor Princewill Chike, Rivers State Commissioner of Health who received the ambulance on behalf of the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, described, Dr. Mrs Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs, Chief Executive Officer and the board of the company, producers of the premium bottled water, La Sien, as true friends of Rivers State.

Making the declaration at a handover ceremony of the brand-new ambulance Professor Chike, said the laudable gesture of the company spoke volumes of its passion for the wellbeing of Rivers people and the State.

“On behalf of the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Chief Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and the people of Rivers State, we say thank you. It is in difficult times that you know who your friends are. It is also in difficult times that you know who your enemies are. Your friends will support you in difficult times and your enemies will want to drown you and destroy you even in difficult times. Some people have taken the COVID era to continue their political attack on the person of the Governor and the State Government. But you have not done that. You have said let me also lay my hands to see what I can do.”

Speaking further the Health Commissioner said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has been ravaging the world for five months plus now. It does not recognise party politics, it does not recognise age, educational status or tribe. That you have recognised that this is a pandemic and an assault on mankind; and decided to also help Rivers State, Rivers State will remember. The ambulance you are giving us today, we will use it. We pray that with this donation you have given, you will also be an advocate of enlightening people and telling them that COVID-19 is real.”

Earlier, the CEO of La Sien Bottling Company, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs represented by the company’s Head of Intellectual Capital, Mr. Tosin Adeleye, said the donation was made to bolster the Rivers State Government’s work to contain COVID-19.

“As a company we take pride in the wellness and health of our consumers. That’s why when we bottle our products, we use the best technology and water treatment method to ensure that La Sien water enhances health and wellbeing. We believe that there’s no better time to show our commitment to our community than now when the entire world is working hard to overcome the threat caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Dr. Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs commended the efforts of the Rivers State Government in combating the dreaded coronavirus in the State and urged all hands to be on deck to ensure that COVID-19 is contained within Rivers State and across Nigeria

COVID-19: AKWA IBOM STATE GOVERNMENT LAUDS MONI PULO AS COMPANY DONATES AMBULANCE, 2,000 BAGS OF RICE TO STATE, HOST COMMUNITIES
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Emmanuel Udom, on Wednesday commended indigenous upstream oil giant, Moni Pulo limited for supporting the efforts of the Akwa Ibom State Government in combating the ravaging global scourge of COVID-19.
The Governor made the remark while taking delivery of a brand new ambulance donated by Moni Pulo to the State Government. Represented by the Secretary of the Akwa Ibom State Government, Dr. Emmmuel Ekuwem, the Governor said the gesture of the company proved that it placed premium on human lives beyond doing business within the territorial waters of the State.
“I can see in you as a corporate entity, one that is striking that link between the human person and your business. It is not just Corporate Social Responsibility but it is also a sign of the humanism in you as a corporate organisation called Moni Pulo,” the Governor said, while praying God’s blessing on the company.
Making the donation on behalf of the Executive Chairman of Moni Pulo, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, Head of Admin and Community Relations Officer the company, Chief Clifford Daerego said the company’s intervention in donating an ambulance to Akwa Ibom, its host State, was to support the efforts of the State government in containing the spread of the virus. He lauded the pragmatic steps taken so far by the State government and extended the best wishes of the management and staff of Moni Pulo limited to the government and people of Akwa Ibom State.
In a related development, Community Relations Officer of Moni Pulo, Chief Itama Bassey Ekpe on behalf of the company also delivered 2,000 bags of Rice to all communities within the company’s host LGA, Mbo Local Government Area. According to him the donation follows a long history of Moni Pulo’s responsiveness as a corporate citizen in standing by its host communities through thick and thin. He noted that although the global oil sector had been adversely affected by the pandemic and the number of COVID-19 cases were low in Akwa Ibom State, the company still considered it vital to support its host LGA and the people of the State on account of the challenges being experienced by vulnerable persons, families and communities due to the lockdown.
Receiving the bags of rice on behalf of Mbo Local Government Area, Chairman of the Council, Rt. Hon. Asukwo Eyo thanked Moni Pulo for its thoughtful intervention and assured the company that vulnerable families in communities across the LGA would be the prime beneficiaries of the kind gesture.
https://tribuneonlineng.com/covid-19-akwa-ibom-govt-lauds-…/
https://www.vanguardngr.com/…/covid-19-akwa-ibom-govt-laud…/
https://thenationonlineng.net/covid-19-akwa-ibom-commends-…/

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COVID-19: O. B. LULU-BRIGGS PALLIATIVES WILL HELP SUPPORT POLICE OFFICERS AT THE FRONTLINES OF PANDEMIC, SAYS RIVERS CP, AS ARMY WIVES, WIDOWS, OTHERS RECEIVE SUPPORT

The Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mustapha Dandaura has said the bags of rice and packs of sanitizers received from the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation as part of its intervention to communities and vulnerable persons during the current lockdown will help support officers of the Police Command at the frontline of the COVID19 pandemic. The Rivers State Police Boss made this known Wednesday while receiving the relief items from representatives of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation.

“The Rivers State Police Command is happy today to receive these palliatives from your organisation. We assure you that we would continue to partner with you in the interest of the State; and make sure that we fight crime and criminality in Rivers State. What you have done for us will cushion the suffering of our men who have been deployed to the borders and other sensitive places performing special duties day and night. I assure you that the rice you have given us; we are going to distribute them to the people on the ground who are doing the CoronaVirus special duties. They are going to be the beneficiaries of the food stuff,” he said.

Speaking further, the State Police Boss who expressed the profound gratitude of the Inspector General of Police IGP Abubakar Adamu on behalf of the Nigerian Police Force, noted that although the State Police Command had received interventions from other organisations, “this is the first time we are receiving food stuff from any organisation to the Nigerian Police, Rivers State Command.”

CP Dandaura, who acknowledged the current suffering of the vulnerable, thanked the Foundation for its consistent support to the needy and assured it of its continued partnership in the best interest of Rivers State. “I want to say it categorically clear that the Rivers State Police Command is happy today to receive the palliatives from this foundation,” he said.

In a related development, the members of the Nigerian Army Officers Wives (NAOWA) of the 6th Division, Port Harcourt, along with widows of fallen heroes of the Division received their fair share of the relief items. Representative of Mrs Folakemi Aguguo, the Chairperson of NAOWA, Mrs. Gloria Bassey Etuk, thanked the Foundation for always being by the side of Army Wives and prayed God to enable it sustain its worthy example. On her part, Mrs Hauwal Suleiman who received the items on behalf of widows of Fallen Heroes expressed gratitude to Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs for always being supportive of widows and thanked the O. B. Lulu-Briggs for the kind gesture accorded them.

The delegation to the Nigerian Army 6th Division Port Harcourt also included representatives of partners of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) which was led by its Secretary, Hilda Desmond Ihekaire. The GOC 6th Division, Major-Gen. F. O. Agugo was also on ground during the hand-over exercise at the 6 Division Barrack, Port Harcourt. The Foundation also delivered palliatives to the Maximum Security Custodial Center, Port Harcourt as well as the Rivers State Chapter of the Independent Publishers Association (RIVPA).

Amonia David Amachree,
Press Officer,
O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation.
16th April, 2020

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The Deputy Controller of Corrections at the Degema Custodial Centre, Mr Okoro Godwin Ogbonnaya on behalf of its staff and inmates has hailed the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for considering the National Correctional Service in its COVID-19 intervention programme to vulnerable communities in Rivers State.

While receiving the food and personal hygiene items donated by the Foundation, he expressed profound appreciation to Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman and the Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for the kind gesture. In a letter of appreciation issued by him, the Superintendent of Corrections prayed for God’s infinite mercies and abundant blessings in all endeavours of the BOT Chairman as well as those of the Foundation.

In a similar vein, Chief Iloye T. D. Braide, the President General of Bakana Community Development Association in the company of community leaders thanked the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for its timely COVID-19 intervention to the aged, indigent and other vulnerable persons in Bakana community. According to him, the Foundation has been very supportive to the people of Bakana. “For instance, last year, in 2019, they had one of the biggest free healthcare interventions in Bakana that everybody was surprised about. People came from far and wide and it was so successful,” he said.

The ongoing distribution of bags of rice and sanitizers by the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation as part of the first phase of its COVID-19 intervention to communities in Rivers State Tuesday saw it traverse the nooks and crannies of the creeks and hinterlands of the State to reach distant and isolated communities with the much-needed relief items.

Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the Foundation had in a statement on Monday said the Foundation’s intervention was aimed at mitigating the hardship being experienced by the poor and vulnerable in rural communities of Rivers State during the tough but necessary COVID-19 lockdown. Tuesday’s distribution reached Okpo and Ilelema Communities of Asari Toru Local Government Area as well as Obuama, Krakama, Usokun, Opu-Degema and Bakana of Degema Local Government Area and the Degema Medium Security Custodial Center of Nigerian Correctional Service.

David Amonia Amachree
Press Officer,
O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation.
15th April 2020

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COVID-19: O. B. LULU-BRIGGS FOUNDATION DISTRIBUTES 5,000 BAGS OF RICE & 5,000 HAND SANITIZERS TO COMMUNITIES

The O. B. Lulu Briggs Foundation today began to distribute 5,000 bags of rice and 5,000 bottles of 500ml hand sanitizers to communities in Rivers State. This is the first phase of its intervention to help mitigate the challenges being experienced by vulnerable families as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chiefs and elders of Abonnema, Obonoma and Buguma on Monday received the food and personal hygiene items for their communities.

In her statement, Mrs Ineba Tongkam, the Foundation’s Program Coordinator, explained that the items are to be distributed to the elderly and vulnerable. She said, “On behalf of Dr Mrs Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman and the board of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, I want to express our gratitude to the leadership shown by the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Nyesom Wike, in leading our State in the global fight against coronavirus and ensuring that the health and well-being of our people are protected.”

“It’s not an easy time for families, especially those whose livelihoods and food security were already at risk before various policies were put in place to stem the transmission of COVID-19 both in Nigeria and Rivers State. In addition to distributing 5,000 bags of rice, we are also donating 5,000 bottles of 500ml hand sanitizers to stop the spread of the virus.”

Mrs. Tongkam explained that this initial donation would, in the coming days, be extended to the Police, the Army, Port Harcourt and Degema Prisons, as well as essential sanitation staff who keep public areas clean. According to her, the benefitting communities in this first phase are: Abonnema, Buguma, Obonoma, Krakrama, Okpo, Ilelema, Bakana, Harry’s Town and Degema. She said later in the week, the next phase in partnership with UNICEF which will touch 5 communities in each of the State’s 23 local government areas would be announced.

Dr. Guy Marie Yogo, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Rivers State, said that UNICEF was aware that many people were going through a lot of pain on account of COVID19 due to pervading poverty and that it was the reason UNICEF was partnering the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation. Stating that the aim is to foster a transformative partnership that would change people’s lives. “We are fortunate that the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation is one of the credible partners of UNICEF. The initiative being taken by the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation is a very welcome initiative that UNICEF supports with its value and credibility to make a difference in communities and in the lives of people,” he said.

In Buguma, Chief C.P.D Amachree, flanked by other Chiefs and elders thanked the Foundation for the love and care it has always demonstrated towards the Kalabari people and the entire people of Rivers State. In Abonnema, Most Senior Apostle General Iwowari Black Duke, said, “We are very glad that our mother Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs has made the community to rejoice. We are very happy.”

Established 18 years ago to honor and institutionalize the prolific giving of the late revered statesman and philanthropist, High Chief (Dr) O.B. Lulu-Briggs, the Foundation carries out interventions that have an immediate positive impact in the quality of the lives and livelihoods of those in absolute need through five programmes, Care for Life; Free Medical Missions; Access to Clean Water and Sanitation; Education and Scholarships, and Microcredit and Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs, the Foundation’s Chairman, gave the assurance that as a responsible corporate citizen, the Foundation will continue to promote public good. She thanked UNICEF for its partnership at this time of extreme global adversity and hailed health workers and caregivers at the frontlines of the pandemic for their sacrifices and dedication. Dr. Mrs. Lulu-Briggs also called for greater understanding from the general public in upholding health and safety advisories that are in place to promote their wellbeing.

Mr. David Amonia Amachree
Press Officer, O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation
13th April, 2020

Photos: Distribution of O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation’s COVID-19 Palliatives in Buguma, Asari Toru LGA, Abonnema and Obonoma in Akuku Toru LGA of Rivers State.

It is sad that at a momentous era as this in world history when the entire globe is endangered by the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, the embattled Chairman of Platform Petroleum Limited is fixated on issuing misleading Press Statements against his widowed Stepmother just to serve his perverted purpose of undermining the Last Will and Testament of a father whose name he enjoys but whose legacy he is bent on destroying.

As inconveniencing as it is, and at the risk of joining Dumo down this route, it is important to expose the litany of falsehood contained in his recent statement dated 25th March 2020.

It is important to say that Dumo was peddling falsehood when he said:

​1.​“Dr. Mrs Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs instituted a plethora of lawsuits to stop her husband’s burial.” The truth is that it was Dumo who first went to court both in Nigeria and in Ghana instituting a total of 15 lawsuits starting from April 2019 in Omoku, several in Port Harcourt, several in Accra and most recently in Abuja against his stepmother. All she has done so far is to defend herself against Dumo’s lawsuits.

​2.​That “Pastor David Ibiyeomie is biased because he attended the same secondary school with Dumo.” Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs has never said Pastor David Ibiyeomie is biased. She acknowledges seeking his intervention in actualizing the burial of her husband following Dumo’s prolonged shiftiness. She maintains that it was right before Pastor David Ibiyeomie that Dumo threatened to accuse her of killing her husband if she didn’t give him what he considered as his father’s legacy assets. A threat he carried out within just a few days of the meeting. She has never said anything about secondary school because she has no idea what secondary school Pastor Ibiyeomie attended.

​3.​That “Seinye Lulu-Briggs challenged the position of the Amayanabo of Kalabari because he did not support her.” This is pure fallacy. Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs has made no comment on the said letter by the Amayanabo. If anything, it was Dumo who compromised the intervention of the Amayanabo of Kalabari by walking out on the Committee convened by the Amayanabo, which was to see to the burial of the late High Chief. Dumo repeated the same strategy against the Committee convened by the Amayanabo of Abonnema on the intervention of His Excellency, the Rivers State Governor by ensuring his representatives never appeared before it after more than four consecutive invitations to them. Both Committees can readily confirm this fact.

​4.​That “Governor Wike said she insulted him...” This claim, as misunderstood as it was, was nevertheless apologized for. Her response on the same day the statement was made was that she was taken aback by it because the last meeting with the Governor in the course of his gracious intervention ended without rancour and with a resolution that each party should send settlement proposals to the Governor through the Attorney General of Rivers State. Dumo’s Settlement Proposal received by the Widow through the Rivers State Attorney General on the instruction of His Excellency, the Governor was a direct attempt to nullify his father’s Last Will and Testament.

​5.​The rest of the piece is dotted with mere inconsequential fallacies and are at best diversionary. We would rather stay focused on what matters.

Dumo’s inciting, misleading, manifestly false and diversionary reply did not address any of the issues raised by the Widow’s query of Dumo’s advertised Coroner’s Ruling. The issues she raised were that:

i. The Registry of the court said no inquest was conducted. Yet the court gave a ruling on an inquest that was never conducted.

ii. The sole reliance of the singular statement by Ilaye Philemon, whose twisted statement was the only basis for the ruling without the cross-examination of any expert witness or the consideration of statements by the First Responders, the Kotoka Airport Clinic Paramedics who received the High Chief and attended to him while alive in Accra Ghana.

iii. The statement of the Doctor at the Airport Clinic who recorded his time of death in Ghana, that of the Pathologists who conducted his autopsy and declared that he died of natural causes or those of the other passengers including the Pilot and Crew of the VistaJet flight who confirmed that the High Chief arrived Ghana alive were also not considered.

iv. Statements by the High Chief’s son Datein Lulu-Briggs and his pastor, Apostle Zilly Aggrey, who were also on board that flight, were not considered.

v. Ilaye Philemon was Dumo’s employee and Chief Bouncer at his defunct Illusions Night Club. It is instructive to note that Dumo did not deny that.

We would think that Dumo’s main focus would be to plan and bury his father especially after he has illegally obtained his body and has held it at an unknown location for over 4 weeks, away from the rest of the High Chief’s family.

Finally, could his feverish plot to take over his father’s assets, as he had tried to and failed during the good old man’s lifetime, not raise the alarm for a thorough probe of his private meeting with his father a day before he died, given that he Dumo has consistently hammered on the need for further toxicology to find traces of poisons in his father’s body even after the autopsy that he instigated was conclusive on his cause of death? Did he put anything there that he is looking for? Why is he adamant on setting aside his father’s Will?


Oraye St. Franklyn
Spokesman, Dr. Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs

The attention of Dr. Mrs. O. B. Lulu-Briggs has been drawn to a statement released by her stepson Dumo Lulu-Briggs, the embattled Chairman of Platform Petroleum Limited, claiming that a Ghanaian Magistrate, Mrs. Eleanor K. Barnes-Botchway, acting as the Coroner had ruled that her late husband, High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs died in Nigeria and not in Ghana. From findings at the Kaneshie District Court 2 (Please see No. 3 and 5 of attached documents), no inquest was conducted by the Coroner on the said day 20th of March 2020. However, the said court acknowledged that it made a ruling on an Inquest. The conflict in delivering an exhaustive ruling in a matter the Coroner claimed no jurisdiction on opens up a Pandora box of legal complexities that will be exhaustively pursued in courts.

On the strength of the above, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs hereby states the following:

1. The said ruling was possibly procured by her desperate and embattled stepson Dumo Lulu-Briggs, the second son of her late husband, High Chief O. B. Lulu- Briggs, from a seemingly compromised Ghanaian Magistrate and Coroner.

2. Mrs Lulu-Briggs is curious as to why the said ruling by the Coroner relied only on the statement by one Ilaye Philemon, her former bodyguard whom she has since discovered was once the Chief bouncer at Illusions Night Club, one of the many defunct businesses owned by Dumo Lulu-Briggs.

3. The Widow is amazed that in spite of being in the company of more than 40 persons who accompanied her husband and her, along with other passengers to the airport on the 27th of December 2018, when they departed Nigeria for their annual vacation in Accra, Ghana, only the statement of Ilaye Philemon was relied on to conclude on issues as fundamental as the cause, place and time of death of her husband over and above an autopsy conducted by the Ghanaian Military and statements by other witnesses.

4. Mrs. Lulu-Briggs queries why the Coroner picked and chose only some parts of the said statement by Ilaye Philemon, which she went on to twist to serve her mercantile purpose, and ignored the said parts that clearly stated that the High Chief ate on the said flight to Accra.

5. Ilaye Philemon as part of his statement to the Nigerian police, which Dumo published in the media, said “...but as we were on Air, I only noticed where the nurse wanted to check on him, she went to the front and came back again, but she fed him in the flight...”

6. The Coroner mischievously ignored the above part of Ilaye’s statement but went on to twist it to arrive at the odious conclusion that the High Chief died in Nigeria, even when Ilaye did not say so.

7. The widow is further amazed that none of the statements by the other eight passengers on board the flight to Accra including one of his sons Datienm Lulu- Briggs and his Pastor Apostle Zilly Aggrey or even that of the Pilot of the world renowned Private Jet Charter company VistaJet that conveyed them to Accra were considered before arriving at the contrived ruling. Neither were the statements considered of the Airport Paramedics who arrived in an ambulance and administered oxygen to the High Chief. They were the first responders to him at the Kotoka Airport in Accra. The Doctor who received him at the Airport hospital, documented his time and place of death and issued his death certificate was also not cross-examined.

8. Scandalously, the entire ruling of the Coroner appears to be the mirrored wordings of Dumo’s sworn applicant affidavit and the same narrative singularly rehashed by him in the media since the day he threatened her before Pastor David Ibiyeomie for refusing to agree to set aside her husband’s Last Will. She maintains that his Settlement Proposal, which seeks to set aside her husband’s UK-notarised Will and passed on to her by Dumo through the Rivers State Attorney General as directed by His Excellency, The Governor, confirms this fact.

9. She affirms that she is not taken aback by the ruling, which differs from the outcome the investigation by Interpol and the Ghanaian and Nigerian Police. She recalls that she had always publicly spoken of the plot by her reprobate stepson Dumo Lulu-Briggs to criminalise her on the false pretext of killing her husband as part of his larger plot to illegally obtain her husband’s estate and set aside his Last Will and Testament.

10.She views the said ruling by the Coroner as bizarre based on the fact that its Registry says no inquest was done in that court. This is the same court that issued Dumo Lulu-Briggs three consecutive Court orders on the same issue, at different times and on the same day 12th July 2019. That action was in the desperate bid by Dumo to have a private and compromised autopsy done on the late High Chief O. B. Lulu-Briggs without the involvement of his stepmother.

11.She recalls, further, that but for her appeal to the High Court of Ghana which ordered both her inclusion and the right procedure for the autopsy, Dumo relying on that order of 12 July 2019 from the Magistrate would have compromised his father’s autopsy.

12.The same Court after the successful conclusion of the autopsy as was ordered by it in July 2019 and without waiting to receive the autopsy report, went on to grant Dumo a personal inquest order based on his ex parte application in September 2019. That action was clearly against the provisions of the Coroner’s Act. It was however supported by her comments in open court that she had reasons to believe that the High Chief didn’t die a natural death.

13.It is on record that in arriving at the inquest ruling, the Coroner neither called any expert witness nor any of the pathologists who conducted the autopsy. Not a single individual was cross-examined. Only the singlular statement by Ilaye Philemon, was relied on amongst at least eight other statements to arrive at the conclusion that the High Chief died at 4:50pm in Nigeria. It truly beats one’s imagination as to how such a conclusion would have been arrived at. The reference to unnamed and unknown doctors as well as other unidentifiable statements from unnamed persons on the flight simply beggars belief.

14.Dr. Mrs. Lulu-Briggs has no difficulty in reaching the conclusion that rather than an inquest ruling; the Coroner may have been strongly influenced by Dumo’s script in her judgment. There is truly no evidence that she conducted an inquest and as such could not have delivered a conclusive ruling on it. For instance, her opinion that the autopsy was inconclusive could only have been reached upon the cross-examination of an expert witness. She did none of that.

15. In truth, she declined to conclude on the inquest because the conclusion was easy to reach if expert witnesses were examined. The High Chief died of natural causes according to his conclusive autopsy report. Also, if the Coroner had done an inquest it would have come to light that Dumo had illegally removed the body of the High Chief from the Transitions Mortuary. As such, her reference to the release of the body by the Police and Mortuary to Dumo Lulu-Briggs, besides confirming his illegal custody of the body also raises issues that the ruling may have been predetermined, prepared and kept to be read when it was considered right irrespective of its bias.

16.Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs assures well-meaning friends, associates and extended family members that there is no cause for alarm, as she would continue to have recourse to the law in her quest for justice. To this end, she has directed her Lawyers to appeal the ruling possibly delivered with the intention to aid Dumo’s mischief.

17. Dr. Mrs Seinye Lulu calls on her stepson, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, who illegally obtained her husband’s body and is keeping it at an unknown location for more than four weeks now, away from the rest of the family, to endeavor to accord her beloved husband the rest and dignity that he deserves except there’s to be another announcement of the postponement of a never intended interment.

Oraye St. Franklyn
Spokesman, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs

THISDAY’S APOLOGY TO WIDOW, SEINYE LULU-BRIGGS, CONFIRMATION OF DUMO AS AN UNREPENTANT PURVEYOR OF FAKE NEWS

Investigative revelations by ThisDay Newspaper have vindicated Dr. Mrs Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs and eventually shown that its report of December 8, 2019 titled MORE SHOCKING REVELATIONS CONCERNING LULU-BRIGGS DEATH contained false, misleading, inaccurate and defamatory contents against her person, causing the Newspaper to retract the story in its entirety and apologising to the innocent widow.

According to the statement released by Thisday Newspaper: ‘Our attention has been drawn to inaccuracies in our report titled: “More Shocking Revelations Concerning Lulu-Briggs Death” published in our Sunday December 8, 2019 edition. We hereby retract the entire report. We have since found the report not to be the accurate reflection of developments surrounding the demise of Chief Lulu Briggs. We therefore apologise to Dr. (Mrs.) Seinye Lulu Briggs over the report which may have embarrassed her and portrayed her in unflattering terms. We did not mean to embarrass her in any way or tarnish her reputation. We regret the embarrassment the publication may have caused her.’

The said report, which Thisday Newspaper retracted and apologised for, contained the same false, inaccurate, misleading narratives being promoted by the embattled Chairman of Platform Petroleum, Dumo Lulu-Briggs against his stepmother Dr. Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs. Other reputable media houses have also severally debunked Dumo’s negative media campaign against the innocent widow. ThisDay’s retracted report is a chunk of Dumo’s catalogue of conjured fake news and fictional episodes of salacious falsehood contrived and serialized in the media for more than a year with the deliberate aim of defaming his innocent stepmother. He falsely accuses her of killing her 88-year-old husband, his estranged father, High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs. The good old man passed on to glory peacefully in Accra, Ghana on the 27th of December 2018 aged 88 years and 7 months.

Since 27 December 2018, however, the funeral of the late Nigerian statesman and celebrated industrialist has been stalled with at least three postponements of his funeral dates based on Dumo’s insistence on setting aside the good old man’s validly written Last Will and Testament. To achieve his aim, Dumo took illegal custody of his father’s body to a location unknown to the widow and his siblings in keeping with his plot to use the body of his father as a bargaining chip for the estate of the late statesman.

Dumo’s Settlement Proposal sent to his Stepmother is his precondition for his father’s funeral and the cessation of hostilities against her. If consented to, the proposal would set aside the UK notarised Last Will and Testament of High Chief Dr. O. B. Lulu-Briggs and confer on Dumo the right to bequest his father’s estate as he wishes. While this lingers the question on everyone’s lips is: when would the High Chief be accorded the dignified and final rest that he deserves?

Oraye St. Franklyn
Spokesman, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs

LULU-BRIGGS: DUMO REMOVES FATHER’S BODY TO UNKNOWN LOCATION AGAINST COURT ORDER

In flagrant violation of the December 23, 2019 ruling of a Ghana High Court and in total disregard for the rule of law, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs has today unilaterally taken his father’s body and conveyed same to a location not known to the family, the widow of the deceased, Dr. (Mrs) Seinye Lulu Briggs has announced.

The December 23, 2019 judgment of the High Court of Ghana, which was also upheld by the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled on preconditions that must be met before the body of High Chief O. B. Lulu-Briggs is released for burial. One of the preconditions was that the widow, Dr. Mrs Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs would have two representatives while the body of her husband is being conveyed for burial. Sadly that was not done. Apart from two of his siblings, Senibo and Sofiri, other members of the family were neither notified nor involved as ordered by the Court, while he took away the body of their father. The High Chief acknowledged that he had seven children. Incidentally, four of them now have no knowledge of the whereabouts of their father’s body.


A letter written by Dr. Mrs Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs on the 13th of February 2020 requesting the definite date for the repatriation of the body of the Deceased, the identity of the delegation of the Deceased’s family as defined by custom, the destination funeral home in Nigeria where the body will be stored pending burial and the transportation arrangements for the repatriation of the body was never responded to.

Mrs. Lulu-Briggs wonders why men who humiliated, tried to take over his company and imprison her husband would now be so interested in his body especially after Dumo had demanded that he be given tissue samples from his father’s body, the refusal by the Military pathologists caused him to insist on a second autopsy on his father.

Notwithstanding the fact that the other children of the High Chief do not know where the body of their father is, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs hopes that her stepson who has illegally removed the body of her husband would fix the burial date for his father and allow him the rest that he rightfully deserves.

Oraye St. Franklyn

Spokesman, Dr. Mrs. O. B. Lulu-Briggs