Ben Osuagwu Narrates How He Turned Down Offer To Share In Proceeds From Illegal Sale
Following the recent court judgment that nullified the fraudulent sale of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Imo State Council’s Secretariat that is located along Port Harcourt Road, Owerri, the Imo State capital, the buyer, an Anglican Priest, named Engr Godson Nlemchukwu who is said to be the proxy of a former Governor of the state has asked Chirs Akaraonye and Juliet Dim who paraded themselves as Chairman and Secretary of Imo NUJ respectively to refund his money.
Others who are said to have also gone into hiding to avoid the proxy’s wrath are, Innocent Igwe, a former Chairman of the union who unlawfully handed over to Akaraonye when the leadership dispute in the union was still a subject of litigation and Ifeanyi Nwaguma who followed the trend.
A source who pleaded anonymity, said the buyer who is very furious is asking for a refund on the ground that the deal did not materialize despite all the assurance they gave him for which he doled out huge sum of money.
It was also gathered that Chris Akaraonye, Juliet Dim and Innocent Igwe received and shared the sum of #20m while the National President of the NUJ Chris Isiguzo and other national officers of the union allegedly received a larger chunk of the money.
The buyer according to a reliable source who spoke to our reporter said, “the company, Enedo General Services is now counting its losses because they spent so much in the case, yet they lost in the court despite the assurance they given that there will be no problem from any quarters and that the property is not encumbered in any way. Hence, they agreed to invest in the transaction.”
Meanwhile, the immediate past National President of the NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, recently distanced and dissociated himself from the failed fraudulent deal.
Isiguzo, in a release dated December 8, 2024, said, “It has come to my attention that the Blueprint Newspaper and The Conclave blog published reports dated December 8, 2024, alleging that a court has stopped me and Comrade Akaraonye from selling the NUJ Secretariat building in Imo State.
“This publication represents the most irresponsible form of journalism I have encountered in my entire career. I categorically state that the report is false, malicious, and deliberately designed to tarnish my reputation and subject me to public ridicule.
“To set the record straight, I was neither a party to, nor aware of, any legal proceedings related to the sale or lease of the NUJ property in Imo State during my tenure as President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). It is therefore shocking and deeply disturbing to find my name dragged into an issue of which I have absolutely no knowledge”.
In the same vein, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Imo State Council, Chief Ben Osuagwu, in whose tenure, the secretariat was donated to the union, “when they were sharing proceeds from the fraudulent sale of the secretariat,approached to share part of the proceeds. I rejected the offer outrightly because I knew that it was not fair and just. As far as I am concerned the secretariat along Port Harcourt Road, Owerri is the only place I know as the Imo NUJ secretariat and it is the bonafide property of the union.”
