A famous musician, Mrs Uche Ibeto, also known as Jigida Queen, has appealed to the Lagos State Government, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and well-spirited Nigerians to assist her to recover her property from her elder sister, Mrs Lora Oko, and her collaborators, who forcefully evicted her from their family house situated at 36, Ibezim Obiajulu Street, Surulere, Lagos using a court judgment.

At a press conference in Surulere, Madam Ibeto, who is over 70 years old, narrated that she had lived in the said property with her mother, Mrs Esther Uche Ibeto, before the mother died on June 13, 2013, for over 50 years, leaving behind three daughters, Mrs Oko, Mrs Ifeoma Ilodibe and herself, the youngest. She noted that her mother was the beneficiary/owner of all her property, including the storey building in question.

After their mother?s death, Madam Ibeto continued, Mrs Okoh applied to the Lagos State High Court for a letter of Administration on the property, adding Mrs Ilodibe, to administer the property. The court granted her wish and there had been no problems since then.

However, she was surprised when she was woken up at the building at 6 am on August 15, this year by 50 men, who included policemen, Sheriffs of the High Court and thugs, led by one Victor Giwa, a lawyer, who allegedly invaded it, to ??levy execution?? on the property, brandishing a court judgment delivered on July 10, 2025 by Justice Adewunmi-Oshin of the High Court of Lagos sitting at Osborne in suit No. LD/9481/GCM/2025 between Cecil Ezem Osakwe Vs Laura Okoh and Ifeoma Ilodibe.

Madam Ibeto said neither she, nor her tenants were joined in case nor served its notices to appear during proceedings.Two of the tenants, Mr. Sylvester Onwubualili and Mr Vincent Okafor, lawyers, said they were not aware of the matter, adding that they only heard of the take-over of the building like Madam Ibeto.

Mrs Ilodibe also said she was not aware of any case or the sale of the house as claimed later by Osakwe, who said the judgment granted him the right to acquire it and reportedly said nothing could stop him from doing so.

Madam Ibeto lamented that during the forceful eviction she lost musical equipment, artworks, household property worth over N500 million as well as huge cash.

Also, she lamented, while her tenants were evicted too despite that their tenancy was still subsisting, the property of her tenants were sealed up by the thugs, who had remained in the premises since then. The lawyers said when investigating officers of Zone 2 Command of the Police came, they managed to enter the premises.

But, to their chagrin, they discovered that their office was burgled with vital documents, other items and cash missing while others were thrown outside since August 28. When The Nation visited the street at the weekend, the thugs were still in the compound, refusing any one entrance.

Madam Ibeto affirmed:?It is pertinent to mention that the said judgment, which gave rise to the illegal execution and my eviction from my family property was obtained by fraud, deceit, impersonation, wilful suppression of facts, false depositions using documentions as revealed by the certified true copies of processes filled in court. Chiefly is that the title document presented in court is for a different property at Idimu in Alimosho Local Government Area.??

She said she had title documents of their property, which were handed to her by her late mother, were still in her possession.

She, therefore, called on the state government, their political leader in Surulere, who is the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, to ??as a matter of urgency?? wade into the matter and help her recover the property, noting that since she was thrown out, she had no home of her own and begging for where to stay.

Specifically, while she had decided to challenge the judgment at the Appeal Court and report Giwa to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), she appealed to the CJN to probe the judgment ??delivered on July 25 and executed less than a month later??.

But, the lawyer to Mr. Cecil Osakwe, Mr. Kenneth C. Joshua of KC. Joshua &Co said in a letter dated April 8, 2025 for the demand for possession of the building to Mrs Okoh and Mrs Ilodibe said he had the mandate of his client to control the building after the expiration of the deadline stated in their control of sale, a deal both Madam Ibeto and her immediate elder Mrs IIodibe said they were not aware of and were set to contest in court. (THE NATION)

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