Hauler demands N14m compensation for alleged illegal seizure of vehicle

An Onitsha-based hauler, Mr. Idoko Chidozie Collins, has demanded a N14 million compensation from the Managing Director of GUO Transport Company Ltd, Mr. Maduabuchukwu Okeke, being calculated losses from a 28-day alleged ‘illegal’ seizure of his truck at a disused GUO terminal at Iddo, Lagos State.

According to Collins, the truck in question was seized at the terminal on Maduabuchukwu’s order. In a letter dated October 13, 2022, written by his counsel, Joseph Otogbolu, to Maduabuchukwu through his lawyer, Ikem Nwanegbo, Collins threatened to drag Maduabuchukwu and GUO to court for losses incurred by his cargo company calculated at N500,000 per day, if he does not receive the N14 million demanded by him “within a reasonable time frame.”

He insisted that no law in Nigeria gave Maduabuchukwu or GUO the power to detain a vehicle belonging to another businessman without authorisation by a court of competent jurisdiction in the country, especially when the owner of the seized vehicle had no prior dispute whatsoever with Maduabuchukwu in his private capacity or GUO as a company.

The Guardian gathered that trouble started when on October 5, 2022, one Mr. Uche Ezeanochie, a truck driver with Collins’ haulage company, ‘momentarily’ parked his truck in a lot at GUO’s Iddo terminal to enable him eat lunch at a nearby restaurant.

However, on return from his lunch break, Ezeanochie found the lot where he packed his truck under lock and key reportedly on Maduabuchukwu’s order. Three days later and unable to resolve the situation by himself, Ezeanochie called his boss (Collins) to explain what had happened to the truck and ask for his intervention.

Addressing journalists in Onitsha, Anambra State, recently, Collins stated that on hearing the ‘sad’ news, he travelled to Lagos on October 9 to see Maduabuchukwu having failed to reach him on phone after several attempts.

“I called Maduabuchukwu several times to see if we could amicably resolve the matter over phone, because I couldn’t afford to have the truck miss business even for a day, but he would not pick my calls. So, I decided to travel to Lagos immediately in the hope of meeting and discussing the matter with Maduabuchukwu one on one,” he recalled.

Collins further narrated that he, Ezeanochie and another of his employees, one Miss Chika Odoemena, went to see Maduabuchukwu on Monday, October 10, at GUO’s Lagos headquarters in Amuwo-Odofin area of the state but he refused to grant them audience after many hours of wait.  

“Luckily for us, about 7.48pm, while we were still waiting in the reception of Maduabuchukwu’s office, in the hope of still seeing him, his younger brother, Kenechukwu walked in. After exchanging pleasantries with us, and being told why we had come to see Maduabuchukwu, Kenechukwu said he was not aware of the development but that we should wait for him to go and discuss the matter with his elder brother. 

“A few minutes later, Kenechukwu, on coming out of his brother’s office, asked Ezeanochie, a former driver with GUO, why he hadn’t returned to Onitsha, as he was directed by Maduabuchukwu, to ‘properly’ hand over to the company’s management the vehicle he (Ezeanochie) was driving before he allegedly absconded. When told by Ezeanochie that he had not had any such instruction from Maduabuchukwu, Kenechukwu then advised that Ezeanochie travels to Onitsha to see the manager named Mr. Chike, aka Ogidi, and do the needful so that the matter would be resolved once and for all.

“There and then, we mobilised for Ezeanochie to travel to Onitsha that Monday, October 10, by night and do as instructed. In fact, it was Kenechukwu himself who helped us to get a seat reserved for Ezeanochie on a GUO bus from Okota, Lagos, to Onitsha that night.

“Unfortunately, the ‘proper’ handover by Ezeanochie was not to be the end of the matter, as Maduabuchukwu still refused to release the said truck. Maduabuchukwu’s refusal to release my vehicle even after they had compelled Ezeanochie, at my expense, to go to Onitsha and ‘properly’ resign from their company, was a clear indication that he was not interested in any ‘proper handover’ by Ezeanochie but in crippling my business,” he alleged.

Responding to Collins’ claims, Maduabuchukwu denied ever knowing him or even having heard about him before, adding that he had had no dealings with him whatsoever.

In his letter to Collins through his lawyer, Mr. Joseph Otogbolu, seen by The Guardian, Maduabuchukwu accused him of “purposely shielding the driver of the said vehicle (one Mr. Uche Ezeanochie), who was a driver of a certain vehicle of client with registration N0 GOD 486 ZE in our clients (sic) company and who dumped the said vehicle assigned to him by our client contrary to agreement, in a dilapidated condition without officially handing same over to our client and absconded from our clients (sic) company.”

Maduabuchukwu’s lawyer, added: “Our client had made several efforts to compel the said Uche Ezeanochie to come to our client to reconcile the differences but he had adamantly refused to come our client for any reason at all, including to reconcile with client concerning official handover of the vehicle and repairs of the damages associated with the said vehicle, which were caused by him.”