A logistics/Oil & Gas Firm -Telford & Company Ltd has given the Nigerian Army an ultimatum to release its truck and products illegally seized by the 34 Brigade Headquarters in Obinze, near Owerri in Imo State.
According to a letter, obtained by PERISCOPE NIGERIA which was signed by the company’s lawyer Douglas Ogbankwa, the goods were seized even when there was documented evidence to show that the truck was carrying duly loaded products from an authorised facility.
Ogbankwa disclosed that the illegal seizure had N162,000,000:00 million worth of truck and products by 34 Brigades Headquarters.
The full content of the letter written on behalf of the logistics /oil & gas firm by its lawyers -Douglas Ogbankwa Law Firm reads:
DOUGLAS OGBANKWA LAW FIRM
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS AND SOLICITORS
No 17B, James Watt Road, Off Forestry Road, Benin City.
08070700176, douglasogbankwa@gmail.com
OurRef: ____________ YourRef: ____ Date: 30th April , 2024.
The Chief of Army Staff,
Headquarters Nigerian Army,
Plot 1092,
Muhammadu Buhari Way,
Area 7,
Garki,
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF DETAINED TRUCK VALUED AT ONE HUNDRED MILLION NAIRA (N100, 000, 000:00K), CARRYING DIESEL (AGO) 40, 000 LITERS WHICH IS VALUED AT SIXTY-TWO MILLION NAIRA (N62, 000, 000:00K), WITH TRUCK NUMBER ABH102XA, CHASIS NUMBER LZGJDDM11AX0S2833, ENGINE NUMBER 1510D016193 AND WAYBILL NUMBER 3126479335 WHICH WAS UNLAWFULLY DETAINED BY SOME MEN OF THE NIGERIAN MILITARY ATTACHED TO 34 BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, OBINZE, IMO STATE.
We act as Solicitors to Telford & Co. Ltd (hereinafter referred to as “Our Client”) and we write this letter on their behalf.
Our client informed us that on the 11th of March, 2024, their drivers (Godday Okocha and Odion Ehiabhi) loaded their Truck with Truck Number ABH102XA, Chassis Number LZGJDDM11AX032833, Engine Number, 1510D016193, and Waybill Number 3126479335 from Total, a major oil marketer and thereafter proceeded on transit to Awka. Our client further informed us that on the 13th of March, 2024, their drivers (Godday Okocha and Odion Ehiabhi) were intercepted by some military men attached to 34 Brigade Headquarters, Obinze, Imo State, of the Nigerian Army, and they were locked up by the military men for four days.
In addition, our client’s truck which is valued at N100, 000, 000:00K (One Hundred Million Naira), and the product it was conveying which is Diesel (AGO) 40, 000 litres, valued at N62, 000, 000:00K (Sixty-Two million Naira) was also detained by the men of the Nigerian Army attached to 34 Brigade Headquarters, Obinze, Imo State.
Our client informed us that after detaining the drivers for four days, they were released on the fifth day by the men of the Nigerian Army attached to 34 Brigade Headquarters, Obinze, Imo State. Despite the fact that the drivers have been released, the Truck which is valued at N100, 000, 000:00K (One Hundred Million Naira), and the product which is valued at N62, 000, 000:00K (Sixty-two Million Naira) is still being detained by the military men attached to 34 Brigade Headquarters, Obinze, Imo State.
It is a well-known fact that the men of the Nigerian Army have no jurisdiction whatsoever on petroleum related issues, as the Nigerian army is not created to deal with petroleum matters. Additionally, the Nigerian Army have no right whatsoever to detain the truck worth N100, 000, 000:00K (One Hundred Million Naira) and the product it was conveying which is worth N62, 000, 000:00K (Sixty-two Million Naira), without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction. As such acts would naturally amount to a gross violation of order in any reasonable society.
In the light of the aforementioned, we therefore humbly implore you to use your good office to order an investigation into this matter as it will go a long way in curtailing the gross excesses of some members of the Nigerian Army that have overtime brought the revered Army into mockery and disrepute.
Your prompt response in calling for a swift investigation into this matter will be highly appreciated, as we will be left with no other option than to seek refuge in the judiciary, which indeed, is the last hope of the common man.
Please be assured of our highest regards always!
Yours faithfully,
Douglas Ogbankwa.
