Ojukwu’s sons tear Will apart

Barely 48 hours after reading the long-awaited Will left by the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, his disinherited first son, Sylvester, has said he is worth more than the assets mentioned in his father’s Will. But Sylvester, who said he is worth over N3 billion, doubted the authenticity of the Will, describing it as a concoction.

“Even if it is true, I am worth over N3 billion, which is more than the assets mentioned in my father’s Will,” he said. Speaking with Sunday Sun on phone, he expressed surprise over the content of the Will, saying he did not believe it was indeed drafted by his father. His words: “I am surprised, and I doubt that the Will was drafted by my father. It was a concoction.

The Will seemed to have been drafted in a hurry by people desperate to achieve an aim. “But, if it is the true Will of my father, I have no problem with that. After all, this is not the first time a first son is disinherited from his father’s Will.” He said being disinherited from one’s father’s Will does not stop one from being his child. “If it is truly that of my father, being disinherited from his Will does not stop me from being Ojukwu’s first son.”

The legal practitioner said that through a DNA test a person could lose his paternity if it is proved that he is not the rightful child of his father. It would be recalled that Sylvester had dragged the Ojukwu family to court for preventing him from performing ‘dust to dust’ rites at his father’s burial. In the controversial Will, the late Ikemba apportioned the lion’s share of his estate to his wife, Bianca, and appointed her, the late Igwe of Oraukwu, Emeka Ojukwu and James Chukwuneme as trustees and executors of the documents.

The Will stated that only eight listed people should be regarded as Ojukwu’s children. They include Teni Hamman, Emeka Ojukwu, Mmegha, Okigbo, Ebele, Chineme, Afam and Nwachukwu. However, none of Ojukwu’s children was present when the Will was read at the Enugu High Court on Friday. Family members were urged to apply for copies of the Will as well as the codicil, which was prepared by Barrister Emeka Onyemelukwe on December 16, 2009.

Ojukwu’s Will: It’s a fake document –Emeka (Jnr)

The controversy trailing the Will of late Biafran leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu continued yesterday with Emeka Jnr who was read as the first son describing the document as fake. He dismissed the Will presented by Barr Emeka Onyemelukwe, contesting that he is a private counsel to Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu and not that of late Emeka Ojukwu.
Speaking at his country home in Nnewi, Anambra State, Ojukwu jnr argued that he has a copy of the original Will written by his father and not what he called the fraud presented as a Will. His words: “There have been rumours up to yesterday that there is an attempt to read the will and that they intend to make changes in the original will. Well, I have not seen the will that they read.
“Now, there are issues that come to mind, why were they no members of Ojukwu family when the Will was read? They were not invited and they were not told. “She was here last Sunday when we removed the mourning cloth and since she knows that the Will would be read, she would have invited us or even put us on notice. “
Now, the lawyer that is supposedly doing all this things is not our father’s lawyer, Mr Onyemelukwe is not a lawyer that is known to the family as Ezeigbo’s lawyer. Remember when Ezeigbo was sick, the same Lawyer went to the press to claim that Ezeigbo is getting better and that he is now on exercise and would soon come home while he was lying.
It is still the same lawyer that claimed to have custody of the will. And I told everybody that it was not true and that since my father was flown to England, he never lifted an arm or spoke a word until his death finally”.

Sun