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Tag: landlords

  • Landlords petition LASG over sealing of houses by LABSCA officials

    Landlords petition LASG over sealing of houses by LABSCA officials

    Some residents and property owners of Victory Estate in Alimosho LGA of Lagos State have petitioned the State Government, decrying the alleged malicious and unlawful sealing of their houses.

    According to them in a petition written on their behalf on their instructions by their solicitor, Felix Akinnisola Olubodun and Co, they were out on December 3, 2024 and returned home to meet their houses under locks and keys, allegedly by the State Building and Control Agency (LABSCA).

    According to them between October 4 and 29, 2024, more than three threatening notices were pasted on some selected properties in the community, with the landlords of the affected houses, reaching out to the persons whose phone numbers were written on the notices.

    They said they informed the officials that they were already in the process of complying with government directive on building documentation, being aware of the amnesty for property owners to make it possible for them to update their building permits and all other necessities.

    Surprisingly, in the words of some of the affected landlords such as Engr. Mike Abulatan and Mr. Bodunde Adeyinka without any other notice of any form, they returned home from their outings on the day to meet their homes locked up without any lawful justification.

    Their lawyer said  it is even more appalling when they realised that none of the affected properties is distressed in any form, nor was there  any undergoing  construction or reconstruction work,  all being  wholly completed buildings fully tenanted a long time ago.

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    This is based on the fact that residents are aware of the state government’s demand on property owners to regularise and update their building approvals and other relevant title documents and accordingly work already on them and were at various levels with relevant agencies.

    They claimed that the threats and sealings were limited to some that the LABSCA operators perceived could be extorted and coerced to part with money for them by force. Also, they alleged that their community  is under siege, being deep inside, leaving other communities and buildings behind to move in there in a manner suggestive of a vindictive and malicious enforcement to make it unlawful, vengeful, vindictive, malicious and illegal, realising that the Government amnesty on the programme remains in place till December 31, 2024.

    To make it all the more suspicious, Abulatan and  Adeyinka said as they got home on the day,they met their situation with the instruction that they meet them at their Boladele, Oshodi office and we inquired why, because we have always met with LABSCA officials at the Alimosho Local Government Secretariat, that being our Local Government and leaving them wondering till date why it has to be so this time, asking them to leave their LGA to go to Oshodi/Isolo LG, another Local Government Area to meet them.

  • Govt to landlords: regularise your building plan

    Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) yesterday asked house owners/developers, without a valid plan, to regularise their papers.

    Its General Manager, Mr. Olalekan Shodehinde, said during a sensitisation in Amuwo-Odofin, Festac and Ojo that many of the structures there have no plan.

    He said the regularisation and validation of buildings were necessary to avoid disruption of activities, particularly at the Trade Fair and Alaba International Market in Ojo where the buildings are.

    Shodehinde said the exercise was being carried out to curb building collapse, as the government would not  allow loss of lives due to builders’ non-conformity to building standards and procedures.

    He said some buildings were sealed off at Earlylife Close, Kuje, in Amuwo-Odofin; were served with contravention notices and stop work order at the Trade Fair complex, Amuwo and Alaba International Market, Ojo.

    “Virtually all the buildings within the axis do not have appropriate approval plan, even at the inception of the construction, which implies that they are illegal buildings from the beginning,” he said.

  • Landlords appeal to govt

    Landlords in Igbogbo-Baiyeku, Ikorodu, Lagos, whose houses were demolished for road construction, have appealed to the Lagos State Government to hasten compensation.

    They said their houses were demolished last December to allow rehabilitation and expansion of roads in Ikorodu West and Igbogbo/Baiyeku local council development areas (LCDAs).

    The landlords told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ikorodu at the weekend that payment of compensation was yet to begin one year after demolition.

    They said they were invited on May 5 by the state government to submit documents that showed house ownership, as it had approved payment of compensation.

    Mr. Arogundade Jacob, one of the landlords, said they were invited to bring documents to facilitate payment, but they were yet to get compensation from the government.

    He said he became ill following the demolition.

  • EEDC urges landlords to ensure tenants clear electricity bills

    The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company has appealed to landlords, caretakers and agents of property to ensure that their out-going tenants clear all electricity bills before leaving the house.

    EEDC Head of Communication Mr Emeka Ezeh made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu yesterday.

    Ezeh noted that the appeal became necessary as some tenants had made it a habit to pass the bulk of their unpaid bills to new, unsuspecting tenants to settle.

    He also called on in-coming tenants to ensure that the new apartment or property they were moving into “is not  indebted to the company.”

    “Tenants moving into new property should ensure they are duly registered and not indebted to EEDC.

    “This is to avoid inheriting unpaid electricity bills and being disconnected as a result.

    “Landlords are to ensure tenants clear accumulated electricity bills before vacating their property to avoid passing unpaid bills to incoming tenants,’’ he said.

    According to him, members of the public can make further enquire about settlement of bills by calling 084700100 or log in www.enugudisco.com.

  • Rail project: Landlords accuse NRC of flouting court order

    The planned demolition of Adisa Housing Estate in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, despite a court order has pitted three property owners against the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

    Alhaji Moruf K. Salami, Mrs. Uyo Nwajei and Alhaja Aisha Aminu Gwadabe, through their counsel, A. O. Aponmade & Co, on July 26, obtained an order restraining NRC, Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing, China Construction & Electrical Investment Company Limited, Inspector-General of Police and Attorney General of the Federation from demolishing properties at 308B, Murtala Muhammed Way, Adisa Housing Estate, Ebute Metta, Lagos. The said properties had been earmarked for demolition to pave the way for the construction of railway lines to connect Lagos to Abeokuta.

    Justice M.S Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos, granted the order. He also barred the defendants from trespassing on the land, or to evicting the plaintiffs from the said property.

    The plaintiff are alleging that  NRC is trying to circumvent the order.

    They explained that due process must be followed in acquiring the properties since they are not aware to the rail project. In a statement, Gwadabe said their ordeal began last year when residents of Adisa Housing Estate observed that trucks were being parked by the NRC to block the entrance to the estate. She further stated that the construction firm officials, predominantly Chinese, also forcibly entered the estate to carry out mapping and surveying exercises for the construction of new railway lines from Lagos to Abeokuta.

    She explained that the said properties were bought from the Federal Ministry of Works, with adequate allocation paper and payments made to the prototype housing estate account of the Federal Ministry of Works in 1996. She, however, regrets that the plan of NRC and China Construction & Electrical Investment Company Limited was to acquire the property without complying with the provisions of the law and paying commensurate compensation.

    “Both the constitution and the Act establishing NRC set out the minimum requirements that must be met by this agency if it intends to take over the immovable property of anyone. There must be a notice of its intention to acquire, served on us. This would be followed by discussion on compensation and then payment,” she insisted.

    Gwadabe alleged that the defendants sent a valuer without notifying the property owners. “On June 22, 2018, the valuers came with representatives of NRC and Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to hold a meeting with the landlords at which they announced that our compensations were ready and they had come to pay us and give us two weeks to vacate our properties after payment.,” she claimed.

    But the plaintiffs said they demanded to know how much compensation they will be paid, but were instead told to sign an agreement first before being shown the cheque due to them. They also claimed that agents of NRC have begun heavy drilling activities in the estate.

    “They are doing this even though they are fully aware that we have a pending case in court. They are doing this in flagrant disobedience to a subsisting order of a court of competent jurisdiction. This is impunity and we will not stand by and allow it,” the plaintiffs said.

    When contacted, NRC Director Civil, Anthony Onyokoko, said the compensation is general, and there is no need to be selective on it, adding that what the NRC paid as compensation ‘was adequate by the law’.

    “We know that the three plaintiffs are in court. They need to agree with us and come out of court. Just a few houses are still standing. It is a Federal Government project. We are pleading with them to collect the compensation money,” he said.

  • Edgal: landlords of drug peddlers to face prosecution

    Lagos State Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal yesterday warned landlords and vehicle owners to shun renting their property to drug peddlers or face arrest.

    Edgal spoke during an interactive session with security stakeholders in Area “E” Command, Festac Town.

    According to him, property owners who accommodate drug peddlers will be prosecuted as collaborators.

    The police chief said he was bent on flushing drug peddlers out of Lagos State.

    Edgal said his drive to eradicate the use of illicit drugs was premised on the fact that easy access to narcotics and weapons was responsible for the insecurity in the land.

    The police chief warned hotels selling alcoholic beverages to underage persons as well as those housing teenage prostitutes to desist or face closure of their premises and revocation of licences.

    He said: “The major problem we are having in crime today is cultism and drug proliferation, especially among youths, which has become a scourge.

    “It has become so bad that in every 10 young persons, four are involved in cultism and drug abuse.

    “The fight against drug abuse should be a collective one. Join the police and other law enforcement agencies to eradicate drug peddlers from our communities. A situation where these peddlers now go to primary and secondary schools to sell these illicit substances to our children should not be condoned. We cannot continue this way.

    “We must fight all these social vices that make our communities unsafe. Henceforth, we will arrest owners of buildings where drugs are sold. Owners of vehicles containing drugs would be prosecuted.

    “The country is currently battling several security challenges because of easy access to drugs and weapons.”

     

     

     

     

  • Pupils, landlords protest citing of market in Onitsha

    •Lawyers petition Obiano, police, others

    Pupils of Berth-Roots Schools in Onitsha, Anambra State, yesterday held a peaceful protest against the citing of a market near their school.

    They said their lives would be endangered, if the market was cited near their school.

    Also, the landlords’ association of Victory Estate 3-3 in the area said they would not allow their lives to be destroyed through the action of “a selfish man”.

    Lawyers to the school and the landlords’ association – Valentine Emeka Utulu and K. C. Ezeanyika – have petitioned Governor Willie Obiano and the police commissioner for their intervention.

    Copies of the petition sent to the Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Presidency, the Minister of Education, the Commissioner for Education were given to reporters yesterday in Onitsha.

    The petition reads: “There is no provision made in the master plan to accommodate the huge traffic of vehicles the proposed market will attract and it will greatly and adversely affect the quality of life of residents, pupils and those merely driving through.

    “It is wrong to cite a market next to a school, any school, for that matter. It destroys the serenity of the academic environment painstakingly created for learning.

    “It will pose a serious security challenge to the safety of the children in the schools. Our client’s school is co-educational while Federal Government Girls’ College is a girls-only school.

    “If this market is allowed, the pupils will be exposed to the dangers of rape, physical attacks by louts, who are usually attracted to markets, and kidnapping, which is rife in Anambra State.”

    During the protest, the pupils, who carried placards with various inscriptions, noted that some people in the market smoked dangerous substances.

    One of them, who identified herself simply as Vivian, said the pupils feared to pass through the market road for fear of being harmed or harassed.

    Some of the placards read: “We are pride of our parents and the nation”; “Respect our rights to education”; “Save our souls”; “Live and let live”; “Our future is worth more than money” and “No market near our school.”

    But a manager at the market, Mr Ifeanyi Nwokwu, said shops and market have no connection with the school.

    He said children of traders in the market also attended the school.

    The businessman said those complaining were merely disturbing themselves because it was from the market the traders made the money to pay the children’s school fees.

     

  • Tenant allegedly killed by landlord’s family

    There was tension yesterday at Onumonu Street in Owerri Municipal Council Area of Imo State, as a landlord, Paul Oparaugo, his wife and children allegedly killed a tenant, Udochukwu Iwuoha.

    The victim, said to be the only son of his parents, was allegedly hacked and stabbed several times by the landlord and his family until he died.

    They fled after allegedly committing the offence.

    An eyewitness said the deceased, who lived on the ground floor of the one-storey building, returned from work about 7 pm. on Wednesday and found a dead fowl at his entrance.

    The source said Iwuoha went to the landlord, who operated a poultry near his window and asked him who dumped the fowl there.

    He alleged: “The landlord came out with a machete and attacked the boy. His wife and children also stabbed Iwuoha with knives. He shouted and neighbours rushed to the scene, but he had lost a lot of blood. He died on the way to hospital.”

    Confirming the incident, Police Commissioner Chris Ezike said the suspect and his family had bolted.

    He said they would soon be arrested and prosecuted.

  • Oworonsoki landlords reject N2m levy

    SOME landlords and chiefs in Oworonsoki/Ifako, Lagos, have vowed to resist the N2million levy allegedly imposed on each building by a paramount traditional chief in the area.

    Rising from a meeting, their spokesman, Chief Adeoye Ogundumade, the Otun Baale of Ifako, described the levy as “oppressive and wicked’’.  The group, he added,  has urged its members to ignore the levy.

    Ogundumade said Ifako had never been under Oworo, adding that the Oba of Oworo only has five acres of land in Oworonsoki/Oko-Cole area, courtesy of a consent judgment delivered  by former Lagos State Chief Judge Justice Olayinka Adagun.

    Ogundumade said hearing in a suit between Adeoye Ogundumade versus Oba Basiru Oloruntoyin Saliu, has been adjourned to September 18.

    In the suit, Ogundumade is asking an Ogba Chief Magistrates’ Court to bind Oba Basiru Oloruntoyin Saliu over to be of good behaviour in Ifako/Ogudu Community and stop behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace.

    The Balogun of Oworonsoki, Chief Magistrate Ajisegiri, Aaare of Oworonsoki, Chief Bankole Ayotunde and Osi of Oworonsoki, Chief Akinjobi Babalola urged the people of Oworonsoki to remain law abiding. They urged the people, especially the residents of Idi-Araba and Mosafejo areas of Oworonsoki, to ignore the notice pasted on their house, asking them to pay N2million each for their land.

  • Landlords seek fresh APC primary

    The President of Amuwo-Odofin Landlords/Residents Association, Chief Adeowa Owabunwa, has called for a fresh primary election to elect the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship candidate for next month’s local government poll in Lagos.

    Speaking yesterday on the outcome of the party’s primary in Surulere, Owabunwa said: “There is need to be conscious of the genesis of why and how the party lost some House of Assembly and House of Representatives seats in the last general election.”

    The community leader said the natioon’s democracy would not stand if parties failed to embrace internal democracy.

    He urged the state leaders of the party to ensure justice and fairness to all aspirants since they belong to the same family.

    Owabunwa described APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as a man who stands for true democracy.