Lulu-Briggs’ widow appeals court order on release of husband’s body

Seinye, widow of  Benson Lulu-Briggs, founder of Moni Pulo Limited, has appealed the high court judgement that ordered the release of the body of her husband for burial.

The billionaire businessman had died under controversial circumstances in Accra, Ghana, last year and some members of his family blamed the widow for his death but she denied the allegation.

On December 23, a Ghanaian high court had ordered the release of the remains of Lulu-Briggs to his family to be conveyed to Nigeria for burial but Seinye filed a motion for a stay of execution at the Ghanaian court of appeal.

Reacting in a statement seen by TheCable, Sotonye Dagogo, spokesman to Dumo Lulu-Briggs, second eldest son of the deceased, said the latest move by Seinye “threw a spanner in the wheel of progress made regarding the burial of the late sage”.

“Contrary to expected hopes that the mortal remains of the late High O B Lulu-Briggs will finally find its eternal rest in his ancestral home of Abonnema in January as proposed by the children and chiefs led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs due to the judgement given by the High Court of Ghana ordering Mrs Seinye Lulu-Briggs to hand over the remains to family as customs demands,,” the statement read.

“Seinye Lulu-Briggs in a late move got a stay of execution of court order served on the 4th and 5th respondents in a previous suit which she filed and lost out in on the 24th of December 2019.

“The court in its ruling ordered instead that Seinye Lulu-Briggs IMMEDIATELY hand over the mortal remains of the late Patriarch of the Briggs Family to chiefs led by his second-oldest son Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs.

“Subsequently the court also ordered and granted Seinye Lulu-Briggs her prayer that she be allowed to be a part of the planning process for the burial via her representatives which was agreed upon by the family and the chiefs.

“But Seinye Lulu-Briggs was not done yet. She knew that handing over the mortal remains would indeed show that she has been the one delaying the burial of the late Patriarch of the Briggs Family as against her narratives which she has been spreading through her social media handles, so she quickly filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Ghana and asked the court to investigate and see if indeed the custom of the Kalabari people is to hand over mortal remains to family members of a deceased person.”

Seinye had earlier accused Dumo of failing to fulfilling the conditions for the release of the corpse of his father.

She had also said the court ordered the police and mortuary to release her late husband’s corpse for burial, dismissing reports that she was the one ordered to release his remains.

“The Court ordered the Mortuary and the Ghanaian Police to release the body of the deceased to the family for burial. Dumo, on his part, was directly ordered to fulfill three pre-conditions before the body can be released for burial. So far he has failed to do so,” she had said in a statement which Oraye Franklyn, her spokesman, issued on her behalf.

“Dumo Lulu-Briggs was ordered by the court to give the following binding unconditional undertakings: ‘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

“That the family of the deceased, led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, will give a binding unconditional undertaking that, under no circumstance 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.

“That the family, led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, will further undertake that the Plaintiff/Widow will be ably represented in the burial and funeral preparations, and will be allowed to play her role as a widow mourning her deceased husband.”