Peter Obi’s brother’s  property in Lagos demolished… It’s act of rascality – Obi

Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate lhas condemned an attempted forceful takeover of a Lagos property belonging to Next Foods Limited, which his younger brother, Ndibe Obi, is the majority shareholder.

Acting on a purported judgment, which granted ownership of the property, sited in number 57, Oduduwa Crescent in the Ikeja GRA, Lagos, to one Deborah Olorunlogbon, bulldozers rolled into action and started the demolition of the property, beginning from Monday, June 23, 2025 and continuing to June 24, 2025.

However, the controversy is that while Deborah Olorunlogbon was listed as the claimant in the case, the defendant was listed as an “unknown person”, hence, the case was treated as a case of illegal encroachment.

Obi’s younger brother’s company had been in possession of the property since 2011 when they acquired it and was not aware of the case until bulldozers arrived.

He phoned Obi to alert him of his distress, which promoted the former Anambra governor to arrive at the scene at about 9:30 am on June 24.

He notified the site contractor that the property belonged to Next Foods Limited, of which his younger brother is the majority shareholder, not an “unknown person”.He also advised the site contractor to stop further demolition as a court injunction had already been secured, insisting on remaining at the premises until the court documents arrived and were served on them.

Obi later received the documents and handed them over to the contractor, which bars the continuation of the demolition.

Briefing newsmen after initial fierce resistance by an agent of the claimant, who didn’t want media coverage of the demolition, Obi described the incident as a case of rascality.

“This is a property that belongs to Next Foods Limited which my brother is the majority shareholder. Yesterday (Monday), he called me frantically. He said some people had jumped into his company’s property and had removed the roof, and were demolishing the property. He didn’t know what was happening. When he asked them, they said they had a court injunction as owners of the property,” Obi said.

“I told him I was on my way to Abuja for a meeting yesterday. I’m going to come here from Abuja today. And I came back with a flight this morning, drove to this place to find the house that is in this place being demolished. And I asked the people why? They said they have a court injunction, which shows that they own the property. I asked them to show me the document to see whom they sued. I saw the court papers, and it says they sued an ‘unknown person.’

“How can you see a house that has been built and you say you are suing an unknown person? Can you see the rascality in this country? Can you see what is happening in this country? We are talking about foreign investors; look at what they are doing to local investors.

“I asked them who the person claiming ownership of the property. They said they were just hired by somebody, that they have a court order, and the police are involved.

“I asked another man who came here, and he said he is not the owner. That he is acting for somebody. He is the second person. I am waiting for the owner. Let him come and tell me how he obtained the house.

“The owner must appear and bring their document for verification. They are laying claim to something; they went and sued an unknown person. A property like this cannot be owned by an unknown person. It’s owned by a company.”

Emeka Okpoko, the lawyer to Next Foods Limited, the owners of the property, said he became aware of the case on Friday, June 20, after some persons came to effect possession.

“Just this last Friday (June 20), we were called upon that some people came here to take possession. We never knew that about the pendency of any suit at all. The suit was filed against persons unknown,” Okpoko disclosed.

“What we did was to quickly go to the registry to see the process filed, that is, which process they relied upon to come to this place. We got it, only to discover that they came by originating summons, and they are even claiming possession, not claiming ownership.

“We then made copies of all those processes and worked all through Friday. On Monday, we filed our application, which was yesterday (June 23) for joinder, that is, let us be joined in the case as parties. And we attached affidavits where we annexed copies of materials, documents showing that we truly owned the house.

“We attached the Deeds of Assignment, we attached the Certificate of Occupancy, and every document to show that we genuinely own the house. We also filed a separate application, seeking to set aside that order of the court because the order was obtained without the court knowing that other persons own the property, because they just sued an unknown person.

“I can assure you that if you go through the evidence of service, what they did, they would paste a court process, snap it, remove it and go back to the court to file evidence that they have effected service. We attacked all those things in our application, seeking to set aside that judgment. We also filed an application setting aside further execution.

“We have an injunction pending the hearing of the suit. We also have a prayer where we are asking the court to convert the case to pleadings so that everybody will file their own side of the story. And the court will take a plenary session and hear us out,” the lawyer concluded.

The property in contention was initially owned by one Salisu Mohammed, Emmanuel Akinbayo Campbel, Rook and Co., but changed ownership to Next Foods Limited in 2011.

According to the Deeds of Assignment prepared by Emeka Okpoko, Next Foods Limited lawyer, they took possession of the property on April 4, 2011, after paying N280 million.There has been no dispute over  the property has since then.

However, Babagana Abubakiri, the security man guarding the property,

was recently served a letter by the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2 Headquarters in Onikan, Lagos, accusing him of forcible entry into the property he has been guarding since 2011, and on Monday, June 23, bulldozers arrived and started demolishing the property.