It was no small drama when a fully-loaded commerical bus comprising over 35 thugs stormed house 8, John Bamidele Close, off Omo Oye Bus-stop, Abaranje, Ikotun, Lagos, in the early hours of Sunday to destroy tenants’ properties in a bid to eject them forcefully.
The tragedy, Saharaweekly gathered, began in November last year when the landlord suddenly introduced two women as caretakers who will thereafter manage the apartments on his behalf. The duo later came to the building in dispute with one Mr.Alatise who eventually claimed to be the new landlord and introduced one of the earlier women as his wife.
The new buyer who wanted to quit the tenants within one month resorted to threat, harrassment and the use of dangerous thugs.
Barr.Deji Obaderin, a tenant, who spoke on behalf of the others, narrated how the buyer of the building had at different times brought hoodlums and members of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, to burst the septic tank open to generate suffocating stench so that the tenants would flee the property.
He added that on different occasions, they would come to spread some substances around the compound.
“We made efforts to get the controversial buyer to follow due process in enforcing ejection but they proved abortive.”
Barr Obaderin with his co-tenant have petitioned the police authorities at Area M command concerning the injustice and proceeded also to write to the DC Panti when they felt insecure about how the men and officers of Area M were handling the matter.
There was also an illegal construction by the new landlord in other to add new tenants to the already crowded building which made Lagos State building planning agents to visit and issue a stop order, even as we also learnt that the house does not have a building plan.
The tenants later found out that their former landlord sold the house due to a loan he took from a bank.
The tenants’ insecurity was again triggered on Sunday January 31, 2021 at about 7am when Alatishe and his wife who made themselves lord over the people, came with fully armed hoodlums to wreak havoc on the tenants, broke the building gate, vandalised all the water channels and destroyed properties of tenants.
The tenants, who are set to fight the matter in court and want the intervention of well meaning Nigerians, presently dwell in fear.