A Ghanaian High Court on Monday threw out a suit instituted bysecond son of late oil mogul High Chief Dr O. B. Lulu-Briggs, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Chairman Platform Petroleum. The suit, it appears, sought to further delay the burial of the respected Nigerian High Chief and industrialist by evading the need to fulfil the 23rd December 2019 court-imposed preconditions for the release of the body of his father by the Ghanaian Police and Mortuary.
A mild drama was said to have ensued in Court when his lawyers sought to move their application for clarification of the 23rd December 2019 Court order. But lawyers representing the widow of the High Chief vehemently opposed the application. It was a shouting match of sorts between both parties. Sanity was however restored by the Court, which called for calm by both parties and overruled the lawyers representing the widow by declaring that the application had merit and would be heard. The Court’s ruling however shocked both Parties.
According to the Ghanaian High Court presided by Justice Kyei-Baffour, “I have been invited to clarify my order of the 23rd of December 2019. My order is self-explanatory and needs no other clarification.” Based on the fact that Dumo had appealed against the same ruling to the Supreme Court, the court said, “I should not appear to be shifting the goal post so as to prejudice the appeal and the applications pending at the Supreme Court. Finding no need for the clarification, I dismiss the application.”
Attempts to get a response from Dumo Lulu-Briggs on why he approached the Supreme Court of Ghana to invoke its supervisory role over the High Court when he had no understanding of the judgment it delivered were not successful.
In her reaction, the matriarch of the Lulu-Briggs Family, Dr. Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs described the ruling and statement of the Court as being incontrovertibly apt.
“The Court’s amazement at Dumo’s application for the interpretation of an Order that was written in simple English and not in Greek, Ijaw or Swahili proves Dumo’s intention to do mischief, waste the time of the Court on frivolities and further delay the burial of his father,” she said. Stating further that “the said 23rd December 2019 Court Order, which Dumo sought interpretation for was crystal clear.”
The Court of 23rd December 2019 clearly states:
i. That the delegation led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs that will convey the body of the deceased to Nigeria should include two representatives of the Plaintiff/Widow, who should be part of the delegation that will convey the body to Nigeria
ii. That the family of the deceased, led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, will give a binding unconditional undertaking that, under no circumstances will the family allow or suffer the Plaintiff/Widow to undergo any cruel, inhumane or barbaric customary practices in Nigeria, when the body is conveyed.
iii. That the family, led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, will further undertake that the Plaintiff/Widow will be ably represented in the burial and the funeral preparations, and will be allowed to play her role as a widow mourning her deceased husband.
The court “FURTHER ORDERED that the 37 Military Hospital which conducted an autopsy on the body of the deceased, High Chief (Dr.) Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs is to file the autopsy at the Registry of the Court within three (3) days upon service of the Order on the Hospital.”
According to the widow, Dr Mrs Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, her stepson Dumo has blocked the release of his father’s autopsy report. The said autopsy was said to have been conducted and certified by the Ghanaian Police and Military. Six pathologists, two of whom were said to be each nominated by both the widow and her stepson, also observed the autopsy alongside Nigerian and Ghanaian investigative Police Officers.
“None of the pre-conditions have been fulfilled to this day. In fact, Dumo has instituted an appeal against them. It is also bewildering to see that he admits to appealing against an Order before seeking to understand it, although it was written in simple English as the Court noted before striking out his frivolous application,” she said.
According to her spokesperson, Oraye St. Franklyn, “The claim by Dumo Lulu-Briggs and as published by some soft-sell publications online that Mrs Seinye Lulu-Briggs lost her appeal at the High Court today and is now approaching the Supreme Court is a complete falsehood and fake news.
The statement further states that “Mrs Seinye Lulu-Briggs remains strong on her call to all who know and interact with her son Dumo Lulu-Briggs to kindly prevail on him to begin the burial arrangements for her beloved husband, allow the release of the report of the duly conducted autopsy and comply with the Court-imposed preconditions to allow the Ghanaian Police and mortuary release her husband’s body for burial.
