Rivers Chief In Court Against Lawyer Docked For Contempt

  

A Hight Court 

sitting in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, docked a Kalabari chief, Gaskin Sobrasuaipiri, and a journalist for alleged court contempt. 

Tuesday's proceeding was supposed to be for pre-trial; but because counsels in the matter between the claimant, Sobrasuaipiri, and defendant, Prince Gbogboade Akitoye, wanted to amend their processes, the claimant's lawyer asked for adjournment.

Meanwhile, counsel for the defendant, C. Chikere, reminded the court of a publication by the defendant, which was against the rights of his client.

Chikere told the court that the claimant was in court with a journalist and Sobrasuaipiri admitted that and the court got infuriated.

The journalist was ordered to enter the dock, preparedly for contempt of court proceedings; he was sworn in and led in evidence as to his mission in court.

The judge, Justice Okogbulem Gbasam, of High Court 25, asked the journalist who invited him to court and he admitted that it was the claimant.

The court ordered him to step out and invited the claimant to the dock, and he was led in evidence, also preparedly for contempt of court.

At this point, Sobrasuaipiri's counsel, Mr.  Erasmus Dike, started pleading with the court for leniency. 

The bar of over 30 lawyers, also begged the court not to send the chief and journalist to prison, which, if it has done, would attract three months imprisonment.

However, the judge warned the claimant and reporter to desist from coming to court until the case is dispensed. And adjourned the matter till February 26, 2021.

It would be recalled that Sobrasuaipiri had dragged the defendant to  claiming the sum of N100 million for being "general damages for the defender's (Akitoye) negligence and trauma/pain the claimant (Sobrasuaipiri) has suffered as a result of the unprofessional handling of the claimant's Will by the defendant".

The claimant had, in his Statement of Claim, asked for an order of the court directing the defendant to return the file copy of the Will in his (defendant) possession because the Will has been revoked.

But, the defendant filed a counter claim denying the claimant's allegations contained in his Statement of Claims.

Akitoye, in his Statement of Defence,  said that the claimant, in 2019,  engaged him to prepare his last Will and agreed to pay the sum of N3.5 million for the service.

According to Akitoye, his client (claimant) deposited the sum of N200,000.00, with a promise to bring the balance of N3.3 million at a later date.

He said: "Being a friend, I received the money, prepared the Will, trusting that he would honour his obligation to bring the balance as promised.

"At the next visit, Chief Gaskin Egede Sobrasuaipiri  pretended that he was with the cheque of N3.3 million, which he intended to give me.

"He requested for the Will and I mandated his two witnesses to sign their columns along with him as the testator. He did not return the Will to me as he said he was proceeding to the probate  to deposit same. 

"I requested for the cheque which he earlier on promised to give me. At that stage, he (claimant) stormed out of my office without handing over the cheque. I, then, realised that he has defraud me after obtaining my services.

"In order to intimidate me out of paying my legal fee of N3.3 million, he went out to file a trump up case against me in the High Court of Rivers State, claiming the sum of N100 million and circulate his illicit claim through the local media in Port Harcourt.

"He later approached me to pay him the sum of N3.3 million, which was my claim against him to enable him stop his defamatory actions against me. I refused to yield to his dirty request, insisting that he should pay me my outstanding legal fees of N3.3 million".