Activist drags Awka diocese to court over alleged fraudulent judgement
By Our Reporter
Anambra based activist, Comrade Osita Obi, has dragged Rev. Fr. Chudy Aguinam and the Catholic Diocese of Awka to Magistrate Court 4 sitting in Amawbia, Awka South local government area of Anambra State, under Her Worship, E.C Chukwu.
In a suit marked: MAW/1075/2025, between Mr. Chidi Osakwe & 6 ors, vs Catholic Diocese of Awka & anor, the activist, through his lawyer, Mr. Martins Obi (Esq) urged the court, among other reliefs, to set aside its earlier judgement against his clients, which he said, was obtained fraudulently by the Catholic Diocese of Awka.
When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, October 15, Counsel to the plaintiffs, Martins Obi (Esq), urged the court to set aside the purported judgement, which he said, was obtained through the “backdoor.”
“He said, “Her Worship, what brought about this suite is that the Catholic Diocese of Awka had filed a criminal suit in this court against my clients, Osita Obi and others, who they described as unknown persons. They filed a case in this court and claimed that they served my clients the necessary processes.
“Based on that deception, this court proceeded, heard the case and gave judgement in their favour. In the process of executing the judgement, the diocese broke into the apartments of my clients, about ten different tenants living in that property, and threw their belongings outside in the rain.
“This is when my clients knew that there was an earlier suit filed against them, and that a judgement was obtained against them. So, they proceeded to this court and got the necessary documents associated with that judgement. When they studied it, they found out what transpired, and they were not happy. This is why they filed this suit to tell the court that the judgement was obtained by fraud.
“One of the grounds for this suite is that the persons they described as unknown are actually known to them. So, for them to say that they were dealing with unknown persons was a lie from the pit of hell, because, there are evidences to prove that they knew the tenants.
“We want to establish that the procedure the diocese used in obtaining their judgement against my clients was fraudulent.”
Citing Section 6(6)(a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), combined with common law and established judicial precedents, the lawyer noted that courts of record possess inherent judicial powers to ensure justice, which includes the power to nullify or set aside a judgment, if it is proven to be a nullity or tainted by fraud.
Reacting, counsel to the defendants, J.A Obiajulu (Esq), notified the court that he had filed a Preliminary Objection that the court cannot entertain the suit.
Citing Section 272(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the counsel noted that issue of land title falls within the jurisdiction of a State High Court.
He claimed that the plaintiffs’ suite borders on ownership of property, and argued that the Magistrate Court lacks the jurisdiction to hear it.
Responding, lawyer to the plaintiff, Martins Obi, agreed that Magistrate Court does not have inherent powers to hear matters of who owns property and who does not; but contended that the suite he filed on behalf of his clients has nothing to do with ownership of property, but to establish how an earlier judgement was obtained against his clients. He said the suite is to establish before the court that the earlier judgement obtained against his clients was gotten fraudulently, and should be set aside by the court; adding that execution of the fraudulent judgement against his clients should also be set aside.
He contended that even though a Magistrate Court is strictly barred from handling suits that border on the ownership or title of land, they have jurisdiction to hear Recovery of Premises or landlord-and-tenant matters.
After listening to the arguments, the Magistrate, E. C. Chukwu, adjourned the matter to November 26, 2026 for further hearing.
Speaking after the court, one of the plaintiffs, Comerade Osita Obi, told newsmen that after his wife’s retirement, she rented a shop for business in Awka, but that agents of the Catholic Diocese of Awka broke into the shop and threw her goods out in the rain.
According to Obi, the executors claimed they had obtained a court judgment against the woman without serving her any court process that led to the judgement.
He accused the diocese of portraying his wife as a criminal and humiliating her publicly, and concluded that he would follow the matter to a logical end.
