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.
