COURT DISMISSES LAND SUIT AGAINST NIGERIAN BREWERIES

 

 

 

The Imo State High Court of Oru Judicial Division sitting at Mgbidi and  presided over by his Lordship Hon. Justice Onyekachi has dismissed Suit  No. HOU/71/2019, which was instituted by Chijioke Nwadika against  
Nigerian Breweries Plc in the said suit, the claimant Mr. Chijioke  Nwadika prayed the court to declare that the entire Ama Ogbejelem farm land at Awo-omamma in Imo State where Nigerian Breweries Plc  constructed it’s drainage for waste disposal at its Awo-omamma  
Breweries plant belongs to him and his family.

The claimant also sought the court to order Nigerian Breweries Plc. to remove the drainage system from the land and pay the sum of  N500,000,000 (Five Hundred Million Naira) as damages for unpaid  
royalty, and destruction of the family’s economic trees as a result of  disposal of waste through the drainage that runs through the claimant’s  
farm land as claimed.

The claimant Mr. Chijioke Nwadika was represented through-out the  
Suit by his counsel Damian Uneze Esq. who urged the court through his  
submission to grant the reliefs. Dr A.A Orunkoya Esq counsel to  Nigerian Breweries Plc vehemently challenged the claims of the  claimant and urged the court to dismiss the suit on grounds that the  
claimant failed to prove with empirical evidence the ownership of the and where Nigerian Breweries is situate or any part of it where the  
drainage system of Nigerian Breweries passed.

It was his contention  
that the claim of Mr. Chijioke Nwadika is predicated on tittle; hence the  onus was on him to prove ownership of the land before he can be  
entitled to any other relief or claim for damages connected to the land.
Dr. A.A Orunkoya Esq. further informed the court that the claim of Mr. Chijioke Nwadika was statute barred as the entire suit was centered on  
a contract he purported his father had with Nigerian Breweries in 1983  
whereas the action was instituted in 2019 in breach of limitation of  
Action Laws that requires actions founded on breach of contract to be  
instituted within six years.
The trial judge Hon. Justice Onyedikachi after considering the argument  
and evidence put before the court dismissed the suit in favour of  Nigerian Breweries Plc. Dr. A.A. Orunkoya Esq defence counsel to  
Nigerian Breweries Plc while addressing the press after the judgment,  
reiterated that the judgment has further rekindled the hope of  investors and corporate organizations to invest in rural communities.  

He stated that private companies are usually sued by unscrupulous  
persons in their host communities thereby discouraging investors.  
Dr. A.A Orunkoya Esq. further stated that the suit of Mr. chijioke  
Nwadika was capable of frustrating the continuous existence of the  Nigerian Breweries in Awo- Omamma but because the claims lack  
merit, the court appreciated the issues of law that was canvassed as a defence and entered judgment in favour of Nigerian Breweries by dismissing the suit.