Acting President of the factionalised National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA); Mr Benedict Ndee has reportedly been sentenced to jail for four years for alleged forgery of signature of a factional President of the association; Mr. Lucky Amiwero.
Ndee was jailed for four years concurrently without option of bail.
Top members of the executives and Board of Trustees members confirmed the news to our correspondent at the weekend.
A Deputy President of the Council, Chief Boniface Okoye told Shipping Position Daily at the weekend that the sentencing of Ndee does not have anything to do with the rest of the members and that he was on his own.
He said that Lucky Amiwero is no longer the president of National Council, but that he has a personal case with Ben Ndee for forging his signature and appending same on a certificate.
"It is true that Ndee has been imprisoned for four years, I wasn't in the court yesterday but those who were there came to my office to confirm it to me. He has a case with Lucky Amiwero on the issue of forging of his signature, forgery is a criminal case"
Speaking on what this portends for the rest of the faction, he said that everybody is entitled to his own way of life and ideology. According to him, if Ndee goes to the extent of forgery and it is proven right, this does not apply to all the members.
Okoye said that the main court case between Amiwero and the National Council is at Igbosere
Magistrate Court, and the case is coming up again on Thursday, he said the one with Ben Ndee is a personal case of forgery
"The case is coming up next week Thursday at Igbosere and the title of this case is about leadership, to determine the authentic Chairman of the Council and who holds the original document"
"I want to prove it to you that the whole documents that Lucky was presenting at the Court are photocopies. However, the original documents are with Rafiu Ladipo who is the Chairman of BOT of the Council. At the next hearing, he is going to present it to the magistrate"
"Ben Ndee was there as an interim for four months which expires at the end of this month, on Tuesday we would meet with the BOT Chairman and the board would now decide another person who would take over the presidency"
"We are preparing for election to come, it is because of the court case that has hindered it".
When contacted by our correspondent, the sentencing of Ben Ndee was also confirmed by the Fonder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); Dr Boniface Aniebonam.
He added that although he was not in the court because he is not a member of National Council, those who were there confirmed that Ndee as jailed four years for forgery.
Also speaking with our correspondent, a member of the BOT who pleaded anonymity confirmed that the board is already having a meeting to put up a new president.
"Lucky has been removed by the generality of the members but Ndee was over-ambitious, we the founding members removed Lucky Amiwero, we don't need his signature to survive, he took us to the police, we went there and we defeated him. But Ndee was trying to force himself to be a member of Lucky so he went and forged Lucky's certificate which he signed and Lucky said he was not the one that signed it"
Shipping Position Daily recalls that factional President of the association, Chief Festus Ejiorfor had died in 2016 of heart attack. Before his death, Ejiorfor was having a running court case with Lucky Amiwero over forgery and impersonation of the association's BOT.
Discussion about this post