SaharaReporters learnt that to pave the way for his second marriage, Ikpea approached the court to get an order permitting him to send his wife out of the house after 39 years of marriage.
Billionaire man, Chief Leemon Ikpea, has thrown his wife, Mrs Agnes Ikpea, along with their children, out of their home on the Banana Island, Lagos State, in defiance of a subsisting court order.
Ikpea, a 64-year-old oil magnate, is keen on marrying a young lady with Agnes standing as the only stumbling block.
SaharaReporters learnt that to pave the way for his second marriage, Ikpea approached the court to get an order permitting him to send his wife out of the house after 39 years of marriage.
Presiding over the case, Justice Joseph Itsebaga Acha of the Edo State High Court had on February 17, 2021, ordered that for the wife to be ejected from the house, Ikpea must provide suitable accommodation for his wife around Victoria Island, Lekki, or anywhere convenient in Lagos outside of Banana Island, Ikoyi, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
In flagrant disregard of the court order, the husband ejected the wife out of the house without providing an alternative apartment as directed by the court.
It was gathered that the husband brought thugs to the house to eject the wife and her belongings.
The wife said the husband brought the new wife into the house and had been pushing for a divorce.
Relatives have also condemned the court ruling, saying the husband left Lagos for Edo State to get a favourable court judgment.
Dissatisfied with the court ruling, Agnes has sought an order of the Court of Appeal in Benin to nullify the order by Justice Acha.
She is praying the court for a stay of execution of the order and an injunction restraining her estranged husband from carrying out the order pending the hearing of her appeal.
She is asking the appellate court to quash the order of the lower court as her husband failed to provide alternative accommodation for her before ejecting her.
The court will sit on Wednesday, in an accelerated hearing, to decide on the substantive matter.