COURT DISMISSES LAND SUIT AGAINST NIGERIAN BREWERIES

 

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.