As primary beneficiaries lament mistrust and unfavourable allocation of assets
The official unsealing and reading of the Last Will of Late Mr Stephen Nnanwuba Nweke of Umubele village Awka, Anambra State has generated controversies comprising allegations of mistrust and threat to life among family members and a close associate.
Prominent among the established cases was the issue of threat to life by some members of the deceased family against one of the Will Executors and beneficiary Mr Francis Anagor of Umudioka Village Awka, who was described as the closest friend to Late Chief Stephen Nweke.
According to Mr Francis Anagor, wife of the deceased Mrs Obiageli Nweke invited him to her apartment in Lagos State the moment she got wind of the contents of her husband’s Will, only to accuse her of betraying the family by not protecting their interest and allowing her husband to Will party of his property to extended family members.
Mr Anagor who felt threatened about the development left the apartment after a heated argument with Mrs Nweke over who was right or wrong in the process of taking care of the deceased and the rationale behind the Will as it is. Later on, he got a phone call from the deceased son major Onyebuchi Nweke who toed the line of his mother over the issue according to Mr Anagor. He went further to make entries with the police and the military for his safety, ahead of anticipated resolution of the issue of threat to life especially.
In her remarks over the development, the wife of the deceased Mrs Obiageli Nweke described Mr Francis Anagor as not only her husband’s friend but a very close friend of the family as a whole, which raises questions over his becoming both an executor and beneficiary of Chief Nweke’s Will without their knowledge.
She further noted that her husband was sick at the point of making the will, therefore may not have been in the right frame of mind to take appropriate decisions, hence her suspicion that the Will might have been tampered with.
Meanwhile the Will No. 5582AK under review which was unsealed and read on February 15th at the Probate Registry, High Court of Justice Awka, contained a total of 11 beneficiaries and 3 executors, which includes the disputing parties. The Will was however prepared by Bright Nwokoye Esq. of No. 10 Umuokem Street, Amikwo Awka.
Information reaching Gists9ja revealed that both parties have shown willingness to embrace peace, but that will depend largely on the terms of resolution to ensure that each party’s interests were protected without infringing on the rights of the others.