The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, is currently tweaking his brain to unravel how a judgment car valued at N50 million literally disappeared from the custody of the court.
To get to the root of the matter, Justice Alogba has set up a committee to unravel the misery. The car is a bullet proof Nissan Maxima (3.5SE) with registration No BQ 775 AGL seized from the judgment debtor in respect of suit no. MIK/22/19/11, between Lati Gomes and Princess Bola Jegede.
The CJ set up the committee following a petition by Princess Bola Jegede, Proprietress of A-Z International College.
The then Head of Deputy Sheriff Section, Lagos, Mrs. Julie Abieyuwa Anabor, who is now a judge at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, had on March 28, 2013, executed the judgment against the judgement debtor pursuant to judgment delivered on June 28, 2012.
In it, Justice Anabor had ordered the impounding of two Toyota Hummer school buses and a bullet proof Nissan Maxima. The Proprietress, in a series of letters to the present Chief Judge, stated that the parties had since settle their differences, the judgment creditor and debtor having reached compromise on their positions.
Judgment debtor had then requested the Deputy Registrar to release the properties as stated in the attached copy of inventory and released same to the rightful owner in compliance with the order of the court.
The Chief Magistrate, F. A. Azeez, had in a suit delivered judgment over rent of property between the trustees of the estate of honourable Justice T.S Gomes and Princess Bola Jegede wherein the court ordered the defendant to pay the sum of N9 million as arrears of rent from January 2005 to 2008, and January 2009 to 2010.
However, the defendant failed to pay the debt, which thereafter led to the execution of the Judgment, before both parties eventually settled the rift.
Mrs Anabor had released the two school buses with registration numbers UF 129 KJA and UF 128 KJA but refused to release the Nissan Maxima (3.5SE) marked BQ775 AGL.
The school proprietress, through his lawyer Yemi Omodele, in a letter dated October 14, 2020 to the Deputy Sheriff, requested the release of the remaining vehicle – a Nissan Maxima car – in the interest of justice.
She reportedly authorised the release of the bullet proof vehicle from the Strabag warehouse in Ikeja.
The committee set up by the Chief Judge is yet to complete its assignment.