Family of collapsed Ikoyi building owner, Femi Osibona, denies stories of feud over assets

In the past few days, the social media space has been replete with stories of a war between the wife of the late owner of the collapsed Ikoyi high rise building, Femi Osibona, and his family members over his assets including bank details, exotic cars and other properties.

The social media post which has since gone viral after some blogs picked it up, stated that a few days after the collapse of the building and the news that Osibona was involved in the mishap and may have lost his life in the process, the wife reportedly flew in from her base in the United States to take possession of her husband’s properties.

However, according to the story, she was prevented from gaining access to her husband’s apartment along Mosley Road, Ikoyi, by his brothers who also denied her access to Osibona’s bank details, cars and other properties.

Part of the story read thus:

“Mrs Osibona who had four children for the late Femi, is presently in a fight-to-finish with the brothers who are laying claim to the deceased’s array of exotic cars, bank account details and other assets.

“The family allegedly denied the wife access to the deceased’s apartment because there were bundles of money, keys to expensive vehicles and others in the house.

“The two family factions came with Mobile Police Officers (MOPOL) after which they were all locked out by residents of the building who are neighbours of the deceased.

“The brothers and wife of Femi Osibona are fighting over access to bank details of the deceased and keys to expensive vehicles. This is despite the fact that the man has a wife and four kids. The body is yet to be buried; they are already fighting over his property. His wife was at the site yesterday, shouting at his brothers. I think there are loads of cash in the house.

“Femi’s brothers have stopped his wife and daughter from getting into his apartment. It is such a mess that money has become the root of all this evil. The brother asked the wife to go and stay at the hotel and she claimed she has no money to go there.”

But Ripples Nigeria investigations into the alleged feud has revealed that the social media post may have been a “figment in the imagination of some mischief makers who are bent on tarnishing the image of the family”, according to a family member of the deceased.

Our correspondent spoke to two members of the larger Osibona family who debunked the rumours.

First to speak on the condition of anonymity was an elder in the family who swore there was nothing to the rumour but mere speculations.

Read also: Lagos govt directs families of Ikoyi building collapse victims to identify bodies in hospital

“I don’t know why some people take delight in spreading rumours whenever there is this kind of situation.

“We are in a state of mourning at the moment and this is the last thing we would want to entertain. I can tell you categorically that nothing of such happened.

“Why would anyone stop Femi’s wife from gaining access to her husband’s house and other properties? Who are those brothers? Do they have their names? We are proud Osibonas and we don’t fight over what does not belong to us. Femi was a married man with children and in our family, we respect that so much.

“I say here categorically that no member of this family will go to the extent of stopping Femi’s wife from gaining access to his property. They should mention the names of the brothers so we know them. But as an elder in this family, I can tell you that nothing of such happened.”

The other family member who also craved anonimity was also furious about the report and said the family would take up legal actions against the blogs who made a meal over the story.

“As far as we are concerned, nothing of the sort happened. No one in this family would stop Brother Femi’s wife from gaining access to his properties. They were married for many years and as the wife, she must surely have documents to his properties, so anyone fighting her will just be embarking on a futile battle.

“We may have to take up legal action against these half-baked blogs who are just reporting fake stories,” he fumed.

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