According to findings, the wife and children of the founder and pioneer Managing Director of GWVSL, late Captain Romeo Itima, have dragged their uncle and current Managing Director of GWVSL, Captain Winfred Itima to court over allegations of financial mismanagement and unprofessional conducts.
Captain Winfred Itima is being sued alongside other directors, Mr Oluwagbenga Leke Oyewole and Mr Olabisi Idowu Afolabi by the wife of Captain Romeo Itima, Helen and two of her children, Zion Itima and Kevin A. Itima.
The suit, FHC/CS/1123/2017, was filed before Justice Babs Kuemi of the Federal High Court, Lagos and preliminary hearing took place on Wednesday, May 16,2018. The case has been adjourned to June 26, 2018
In the suit, the plaintiffs averred that the Late Romeo Itima established the company in Nigeria in 2009 to combat piracy and associated crimes plaguing Nigeria’s territorial waters, adding that, it was a way he intended to contribute his quota to salvaging Nigeria’s maritime security domain by bringing his wealth of experience as a master mariner with a rich shipping experience from the United States of America into the Nigerian maritime domain.
Sadly, the late Captain met his untimely and mysterious death on August7, 2012 in Escravos, Delta State, where he was reported to have fallen off a boat and drowned.
In their statement of claim, the family alleged that their father’s sibling and present Managing Director of GWVSL, Captain Winfred Itima took-over their late father’s companies, GWVSL and Molecular Power Systems Limited shortly after his death and has refused to give account of the finances of the two companies to the family till date.
As part of his administrative and financial misconduct, the family alleged that Captain Winfred Itima unlawfully allotted to himself 6,000,000 ordinary shares of Molecular Power Systems Limited without recourse to the pioneer shareholders including their mother, Mrs Helen Itima who is an administrator of their late husband’s estate.
According to them, Late Romeo Itima through GWVSL, executed many contracts running into several millions of naira with the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA), most of which were not paid for before his untimely death and have remained unaccounted for till date.
They are asking the court to compel Captain Winfred Itima and GWVSL to produce all contracts entered by late Romeo Itima with NIMASA before his sudden death and payments made by NIMASA till date, including the list of vessels he acquired which now form part of the fleet owned by the company.
They asked the court to issue an order directing a complete audit of GWVSL by reputable independent auditors from August 7, 2012 till date, including its dealings with Molecular Power Systems Ltd.
and then