The wife of a former military governor of Akwa Ibom StateMosun Nkanga, has evicted his stepchildren from the family home in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Mosun is the wife of Idongesit Nkangaformer military governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Mr. Nkanga, a retired Air Commodore, who died of COVID-19 in December 2020, had six children: two women from Mosun and four men by another woman, Joanna Achibong.
He married Mosun in 2007 after a court dissolved his marriage to Joanna.
Ms. (Mosun) Nkanga evicted the step-children and their mother from the family home in Asokoro, Abuja on June 6 this year.
The eviction followed an order by an Abuja High Court which, on March 24, 2022, issued an order for “immediate possession of a two-bedroom apartment” at her late husband’s estate at No. 3A and B Mary Slessor. Close, in front of Udo Udoma. , on Yakubu Gowon Road, in Asokoro.
But Joanna and her four sons, Utibeabasi Nkanga, Etietop Nkanga, Lance Nkanga and Ini Idara Nkanga (applicants) have gone back to court, asking her to reinstate them in the household.
The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, are asking a High Court of the FCT to annul the possession order of a premises issued in favor of their stepmother.
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Ms Nkanga first sued Joanna and her four children in 2021 over their “refusal” to allow her access to her late husband’s home in Abuja.
On March 17, 2022, the court ruled that denying her access to possession of her marital home violated her fundamental human rights to own and have an interest in her deceased husband’s property.
The court prohibited Joanna and her children from restricting or interfering with Mosun’s right to live in or enjoy his marital home, pending the issuance of a letter of administration or grant of succession to the estate.
On March 24, 2022, the court issued an order for possession of premises, but Ms. Nkanga and the court’s enforcement department executed the order on June 6, 2023, more than a year after the order was issued. . Joanna and her four children were evicted from the building with their appliances, luggage and other personal belongings.
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In the current lawsuit, Joanna and her four children (petitioners), through her attorney, Mr. Effiong, ask the court to vacate the writ of possession and execution of her March 17, 2022 judgment and her eviction from the family home.
Effiong described the eviction of her clients as illegal and the “refusal” to allow them access to their home as a violation of their fundamental human rights.
He said that under Sections 20 and 21 of the Premises Recovery Act, Chapter 544, only a possession order can be issued to enforce judgment in an action by a landlord against a tenant and argued that the applicants were not tenants.
Mr. Effiong told Newslodge that the warrant issued on March 24 last year had expired before his execution and thus made his execution illegal and liable to be set aside. He said the order has a shelf life of three months, but it was executed after a year.
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According to him, the court did not grant Ms. Nkanga the exclusive right to own, live and enjoy the property, but only prevented her clients from interfering with the defendant’s right to access and possess the premises until a letter was issued. of administration or concession. of legalization of the inheritance.
He described Ms. Nkanga’s action as an abuse of the court order and therefore begged the court to set aside the possession order.
The ex-governor
According to an excerpt from the late ex-governor’s will, seen by Newslodge, the premises have two wings: 3A and 3B with two maisonettes.
The former governor gave one wing, 3A, to his wife, Mosun.
For the second wing, 3B, where he lived before his death, he gave it to his children to live in as a family home on the condition that he reverted to his wife, Mosun, when his last son, Ini Idara, turned 30 years old. years.
Mr. Effiong told our reporter that Mr. Nkanga’s last son, Ini-Idara, is 25 years old and Mrs. Nkanga should not have taken possession of the building until Ini Idara is 30, as stated in the will.
Ms Nkanga, she said, has not received the administration letter or the grant of probate as ordered by the court before taking possession of the premises and described her action as an abuse of judicial processes.
Ms Nkanga’s lawyer, Marvin Omorogbe, declined to comment when contacted, saying the matter was before the court and he did not have his client’s permission to speak to the press on the matter.
When contacted, Ms Nkanga said she could not comment as she was in court. She, however, asked our reporter to find out who violated the will before the court entered to take possession of the property.
Mr. Effiong, in his reply, said that Ms. Nkanga does not respect the will. She claimed that she has also evicted her clients from her father’s house in Uyo and from the village in the Nsit Ibom local government area, where the former governor hails from.