The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is in the eye of the storm for asking homeowners of Victory Park Estate, Lekki to repurchase their properties at exorbitant rates despite having valid titles, all in a bid to recover a debt from a property firm.The residents accuse the agency and its receiver-manager of oppression, but AMCON has appealed the orders for status quo, writes ROBERT EGBE.
Imagine having a valid title and yet being asked to repurchase a property you have owned or lived in for years.
That is the fate of residents and landlords of Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Lagos State, some of whom have been forced to flee their homes.
They accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) of harassment and oppression over their properties despite pending court cases and orders.
Two of such cases were filed by Mrs Bose Ubude and Mr Okechukwu Okoli and his wife against AMCON and its receiver-manager Mr Lanre Olaoluwa.
They obtained injunctions against the respondents, but AMCON and Olaoluwa appealed and continued with their debt-recovery drive.
The estate spans almost 50 hectares and is one of the gated communities in the Igbokushu area of Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1.
The residents are accusing AMCON and its receiver-manager of outright disregard for law and order and illegal use of official powers.
They claimed to have bought plots of land in the estate from Grant Properties Ltd, a company promoted by the late Rev Olajide Awosedo and his family.
They said they also obtained relevant title documents.
According to them, in 2003, Grant Properties and its subsidiary, Knight Rook Limited, approached some of them individually and offered them plots in the estate.
They invested their hard-earned money and live savings; others obtained mortgage loans to buy the properties.
The residents said before paying, they carried out checks to ascertain that there were no caveats in the Lands Registry or the Corporate Affairs Commission on the properties.
Assured that the coast was clear, they bought their various plots legally from Grant Properties and Knight Rook, the only companies authorised to sell plots of land in the estate.
The homeowners said they found that at the time of buying the plots of land, Knight Rook’s title to the estate was free from any encumbrance, as no mortgage, pledge or charge had been obtained against it by any financial institution or any other company.
The homeowners said from 2003 till June 2017, they continued to buy into the estate; some developed their properties and started living in them without harassment.
They also registered their titles, obtained the consent of the Governor and paid their Land Use Charge as and when due.
Alleged harassment, intimidation
Issues arose when AMCON moved to recover alleged credit facilities granted to the late Awosedo, the chairman of Grant Properties Limited and Knight Rook Ltd, which executed the title documents to the properties in the estate.
To the residents’ shock, sometime in June 2017, they woke to a publication that Knight Rook, the owner of the global certificate of occupancy over Victory Park Estate, was in receivership with other companies over a loan Grant Properties Ltd allegedly took from Sterling Bank, Skye Bank (now Polaris bank), Wema Bank and FCMB.
The shares of Knight Rook Ltd were said to have been used as security for the loans.
The banks allegedly sold the unpaid loan as eligible bank assets to AMCON.
According to the residents, following the steps taken to recover the outstanding indebtedness, the late Awosedo and other shareholders of Knight Rook purportedly transferred their shares to the nominees of the banks.
The shareholders also resigned their positions as directors, thereby relinquishing their right to continue to act as such.
The plaintiffs alleged that despite the removal of the Awosedos from Knight Rook Ltd, an agreement was entered sometime in 2006 by the banks with Grant Properties Ltd to market and sell all the land in Victory Park Estate and remit proceeds to the banks.
The residents said it was very puzzling that from 2006 until AMCON’s publication of putting the companies in receivership in 2017, members of the public were made to believe that the Awosedos were executing the banks’ instructions.
AMCON appointed Mr Olaoluwa as receiver/manager to take over the assets of Knight Rook Ltd and its parent company, Grant Properties Ltd.
The receiver/manager obtained an ex-parte order in a suit numbered FHC/AB/CS/69/16.
The order granted him the power to dispose or take possession of several properties in the estate, pending the conclusion of the debt recovery proceedings against Knight Rook and Grant Properties.
The residents alleged that under the guise of performing his functions, the receiver/manager has continued to make life unbearable for them.
AMCON and Olaoluwa, they said, are not only taking over unoccupied and undeveloped properties but the ones in occupation, with residents being forced out with thugs and the police.
The plaintiffs said many of the plots targeted by AMCON were already sold to third parties before the take-over by the banks and the eventual transfer of the assets to AMCON.
To them, these properties cannot form part of the assets of Knight Rook.
AMCON is laying claims to all the land in Victory Park Estate, whether already sold and developed.
But the residents and homeowners said the agency has continued to harass innocent bonafide buyers, bringing untold hardship, anguish and pain to them.
The residents said they tried unsuccessfully to explain the situation to the AMCON receiver/manager, with several meetings held in a bid to establish ownership.
The Victory Park Homeowners and Residents Association also met with both AMCON and the receiver/manager in a bid to amicably resolve the issue. The effort to settle out of court failed.
The residents accused Olaoluwa of employing “despicable methods” to dislodge people from their properties.
They claimed he allegedly sold the properties to third parties and prevented the legal owners from building and accessing them.
Out of pure frustration from constant harassment, a family is said to have finalised plans to relocate to another country.
The residents/homeowners said some of them were forced to repurchase their properties and “regularise” their title at exorbitant prices or forfeit them.
Some were asked to revalidate their title to plots of land they legally acquired from Knight Rook for a sum far more than what they had bought the plots for.
The court cases
Many of the residents have instituted actions seeking declarations, injunctions and orders preventing AMCON, Olaoluwa and his agents from trespassing on the plots of land pending the court’s decision.
Mrs Ubude told the court that said she bought her property in 2014 and obtained the governor’s consent on February 15, 2015.
According to her, the property is registered as No. 64 at Page 64 in Volume 2493 of the Lagos State Land Registry.
She filed a suit numbered LD/9769LMW/2020 against AMCON, Olaoluwa and three others at the Lagos State High Court.
She obtained an order directing the parties to the suit to maintain status quo.
The order also restrained the receiver-manager and his agents from taking any other steps or actions on the properties until the court makes a final determination on the rightful owner of the property.
On December 15, Justice Iyabo Kasali ruled in an application by Mrs Ubude: “In view of the pendency of this before this court, I am directing all counsel to impress it on their respective clients the consequences of doing anything on the subject-matter of this action as from today the 15th of December, 2020. I so hold.”
Mr and Mrs Okoli filed the suit numbered LD/8277LMW/19 against Olaoluwa and AMCON.
They are challenging their forceful ejection from their property, which they claim has been purportedly sold to third parties by AMCON and Mr Olaoluwa.
According to them, the property was sold despite a restraining order against AMCON and Olaoluwa. AMCON has challenged the orders.
The plaintiffs are accusing the agency of disregarding the age-long principle of lis pendens which enjoins parties who have submitted their disputes to the court from attempting to render the eventual decision nugatory through self-help.
Last December, the Court of Appeal, while upholding the powers of the court to make such restraining orders and injunctions, held that AMCON is not above the law.
The Appellate Court, in AMCON vs Adedayo Mumini Shittu (CA/L/1266/2019), held: “The provision of Section 34(6) of the AMCON Act seeks to curtail the discretion of the court and also seeks to curtail the rights of citizens to seek redress or help from the court.
“This is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution and is therefore declared null and void to the extent of its inconsistency.”
The residents/homeowners said despite the pending suits and the court orders, AMCON and its receiver/manager have consistently acted as if the orders were not worth the price of the paper they are written on.
Save us from AMCON, residents plead
AMCON and its receiver/manager have appealed the court orders for the status quo.
But the homeowners said the agency has continued to disregard the sanctity of court by selling the legally-owned properties to third parties while the court is yet to determine the rights and obligations of the parties.
They are also urging President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, AMCON Chairman Edward Lametek Adamu and its Managing Director, Lawan Kuru, to intervene as the agency is not above the law.
They condemned the alleged impunity being displayed by the receiver-manager and plead with the President and the governor to call AMCON to order over the harassment and persecution of the legitimate residents and owners of the Victory Park Estate.
The homeowners also urged the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to direct his men not to allow themselves to be used by AMCON and its receiver-manager to disturb the peace of the residents and property owners.
According to the residents, the issues could degenerate to social unrest if AMCON and its agents are not called to order, as the agency, they insisted, cannot willfully continue to trample on rights and disrespect the powers of the court by taking over the properties of Nigerians without legal backing.
AMCON’s position
AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communications, Jude Nwauzor, said the issues were not new.
He referred our correspondent to a June 26, 2019 statement in which AMCON said it was acting on a judgment.
The statement read: “AMCON hereby notifies all occupiers, residents and all persons laying claim to any portion of land comprised within the Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Lagos that on 3rd June 2019, the Court of Appeal (Lagos Division) in the Appeal No: CA/L/146/18 dismissed the appeal filed by Rev Olajide Awosedo against the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on 3rd October 2017 in the Suit No: FHC/L/CS/744/17 – Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria v. Knight Rook Limited & Ors, by which a judgment sum of N12,966,510,191.00 was cumulatively awarded in favour of AMCON against Knight Rook Limited, Grant Properties Limited, Rev Olajide Awosedo, Olawunmi Olajide-Awosedo, Abimbola Olajide-Awosedo and Fibigboye Estates Limited.
“The judgment also specifically foreclosed the defendants’ right to the assets of Knight Rook Limited comprised within Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Lagos, among other assets, in satisfaction of the judgment, which judgment has been executed by AMCON.”
The statement directed all persons affected by the judgment and enforcement to contact AMCON through its solicitors or receiver/manager.
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