Nigerian Woman Declared Dead Wins UK Legal Battle Over Home
A 55-year-old Nigerian woman, June Ashimola, has won a legal battle in the UK after being falsely declared dead.
She appeared via video link from Nigeria before the UK High Court to prevent a convicted fraudster from seizing her £350,000 home in Woolwich, southeast London.
Ashimola was reportedly declared dead in February 2019, leading to a long legal dispute over her property.
However, she presented herself before Deputy Master John Linwood, stating that she was alive and had fallen victim to a scam.
According to Daily Mail on Wednesday, the court learned that following her wrongful declaration of death, power of attorney over her estate was granted to Ms. Ruth Samuel, who acted on behalf of Bakare Lasisi. Lasisi had falsely claimed to have married Ashimola in 1993.
The judge ruled that the supposed marriage never happened and that Lasisi did not exist.
Court records revealed that Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned since. By October 2022, Samuel had been awarded power of attorney on behalf of the fictitious Lasisi, who then laid claim to Ashimola’s home.
The court found that Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster who had served three years in prison in 1996 for property-related deception, was behind the scheme to take over her home.
Deputy Master Linwood described the case as involving fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation. He stated, “This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive.
“The root of this claim is a long running battle or campaign waged by a Mr Tony Ashikodi for control and/or ownership of the property.
“‘Ms Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in about October 2018 and has not returned since. This claim involves wide-ranging allegations of fraud, forgery, impersonation and intimidation.”
Since Ashimola could not attend the court hearing in person due to visa challenges, her identity was confirmed using passport photographs, leading the judge to dismiss the fraudulent claims against her estate.
After reviewing the evidence, Linwood ruled, “I find Ms Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained or produced or concocted.
“Her alleged death was part of Mr Tony Ashikodi’s attempts to wrest control of the property from her.
“The person who appeared before me and identified herself as Ms Ashimola was physically like her photographs in each passport.
“I find that Ms Ashimola was not married to Mr Lasisi and that the marriage certificate is a concocted or fraudulent document for these reasons.
“I do not accept Mr Lasisi exists or if he does is aware of his identity being used. I do not accept that emails supposedly from him were actually from him.”
The judge further accused Ashikodi of trying to mislead the court and found that both Ashikodi and Samuel had either participated in producing the fraudulent documents or knowingly relied on them.
He added, “I find that the probate power of attorney submitted supposedly by Mr Lasisi and Ms Samuel was a fraudulently produced or concocted
document.
“The death certificate was not proven to the necessary standard in that only a copy was produced. The provenance was unknown. There was no evidence before me that it was a genuine document evidencing a real event.
“I find it was forged and/or fraudulently produced or concocted. The persons who relied upon it namely Mr Tony Ashikodi and Ms Samuel were either directly involved in its production or else knew it was false.’”
As a result, the power of attorney was revoked, restoring Ashimola’s rightful ownership of her £350,000 property.
The court also noted that the legal costs incurred by both parties exceeded £150,000, which could be greater than the equity value of the property.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
