8th March, 2012
In a bid to enforce the judgment sum of N657,735.65, a Lagos High Court, southwest Nigeria, has placed a garnishee order on the account of Bank of Industries Investment and Trust Company, a subsidiary of Bank of Industry domicile with Platinum Habib Bank Plc now known as Keystone Bank Limited. The account has been frozen by the bank.
The order of the court was sequel to an application filed before the court by a Lagos lawyer, Barrister Abidemi Oladigbolu, on behalf of a judgment creditor Mr. Obeta Ernest Iweka.
In an affidavit sworn to by Mr. Iweka, filed and argued by Mr. Oladigbolu, the deponent averred that on the 21 December, 2011, the court entered a monetary judgment in his favour against the BOI Investment Company in the sum of N657,735.65 as at 1 May, 2006 being the shortfall/unpaid balance of the total gratuity due to him from the company after a completed sixteen years of service with the defendant company.
Mr. Iweka averred further that the said judgment has not been set aside or appealed against or overturned by any court. Sometime in 2008, Mr. Ebeta Ernest Iweka dragged BOI Investment and Trust Limited before the court claiming that the company ought to have paid him gratuity, based on the sixteen years he had served the company but the company calculated his gratuity based only on only six years out of sixteen thereby leaving shotfall of N657,735.65 as he was paid N401,348.13 instead of N1,059,082.87.
In his judgment, Justice Adesuyi Olateru-Olagbegi, after considering the submission of two parties said “in conclusion and for all the reasons given so far judgment is hereby entered in favour of the claimant against the defendant in the sum of N657,735.65 together with interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum from 1 May, 2006, until the date of liquidation.