31st May, 2017
Some children of late Lagos socialite, Chief Olatunji Ajisomo Alabi a.k.a Lord Rumens have dragged Bank of Industry, BOI, Investment and Trust Company Ltd before a Lagos court for allegedly mismanaging their father’s N5.6 billion estate.
The children namely Babatunde, Oladipo, Subuola, Awojuola, Rukayat, Olukemi and Adeola Alabi in the suit filed on May 9, 2017 stated that their late father appointed BOI Investment and Trust Company Ltd as trustees of his estate in his will dated July 30, 1996.
The children, however, claimed that since the demise of their father in 1998, BOI Investment and Trust Company has persistently mismanaged his estates and has refused to give proper financial account to them.
Joined in the suit as co-defendant is the managing director of BOI Investment and Trust Company, Mrs Betty Obaseki and the company secretary, Mr. Simon Odomokwu.
In their statement of claims, the children averred that BOI trustees from the on set, cleverly applied and got the probate for their late father’s personal properties and not his real properties.
Despite this action, the children claimed that BOI Trustees continued to administer the real properties of their late father.
They further claimed that BOI trustees deliberately refused to gather their father’s estate together and only resorted to rent collection while paying meagrersums as annual allowances to beneficiaries of the estate.
According to them, the gross negligence of BOI Trustees of not gathering all their later father’s property together, led to the lost of some properties to third parties.
List of properties allegedly lost as a result of BIO Trustees negligence includes; 38 acres of land located at Mawuko, Abeokuta Ogun State; Property at 51 Majaro Street, Lagos; 23 Makoko Street, Yaba; 285 Akin Olugbade Street, Victoria island, Lagos; Property at Makoko fishing Village and John Street, Awodiora, Apapa, Lagos.
Items in the will allegedly mismanaged and unaccounted for by the trustee according to the children includes 26,604 shares with United Bank for Africa, 22,500 shares in Nigerian Bottling Company, 50,000 shares in Total Nigeria Plc, 5268 shares in UAC Plc, and 6,615 shares in Union Bank Plc.
The children also claimed that four gold bars weighing 1000kg contained in their father’s will has been unaccounted for as the trustees insisted that it has not been able to find a local or international buyer for the gold bars.
They concluded that since the trustee has refused to allow any of them to sight the gold bars, they believe that the trustee may have sold them off and converted the proceed or is using same a security for advances for its personal benefit.
The claimants also averred that BOI Trustees have been receiving huge rent from their father’s property at 39 Rumens Road, Ikoyi comprising eight building on eight plots of land delineated as plot 39 A-H without giving account to them.
They further contended that BOI trustees at some point claimed their late father had released three of the eight building for settlement of his indebtedness to former Intercontinental Bank but that several request by them for details of alleged debt by their father were turned down.
The children claimed that till date BOI Trustees continues to lease and collect huge rent for the building without giving account of the transactions to them.
They further claimed that some of the siblings are currently being persecuted by the trustees for demanding justice over the mismanagement of their father’s will.
According to them, one of their siblings Babatunde Alabi was recently arrested and charged before a Lagos Magistrates court for allegedly trespassing on a property where he lives with his family.
In light of the alleged mismanagement, the claimant are amongst other thing asking the court for an order removing BOI Investment and Trust Company as trustees of the Estate of late Chief Olatunji Ajisomo Alabi.
The claimant also wants the court to appoint a new trustees for their father’s estate while directing BOI trustees to give detailed financial account of late Chief Alabi’s estate from November 2009- October 2010 and from 2011 till date.
As at the time of filing this report, BOI trustees is yet to filed it’s response to the suit.