By Chukwuma Umeorah, Lagos
Dapo Ola Construction Company Limited has accused one Sikiru Nollah of the unlawful demolition of one of its properties situated at 20A Church Street, Idumota, Lagos Island which is worth over N800 million.
The Managing Director of the company, Hakeem Olawuyi, alleged that on April 1, Nollah, who is a prominent figure in the area had sent thugs armed with lethal weapons to forcefully vacate the occupants and demolish the four-Storey building which comprised of over 50 apartment rooms, shops, and stores. A move he said had made tenants homeless, and jobless and had cost the company a lot of money.
Lawyer to Olawuyi and legal representative of the company, Barr. Lukeman Agboola explained the ordeal even as he cited documents which showed that the building was leased out to the company by children/beneficiaries of Kumeifo Oba Olaribigbe (deceased) who are now the owners by virtues of inheritance.
He lamented that Nollah went ahead with the demolition despite the involvement of the Police from the Area A Command that ordered Nollah to stop all forms of harassment and to desist from proceeding with the demolition while advising all parties involved to resolve the issue in court. He reiterated that there was no court order backing the demolition.
“Sikiru Nollah is acting on his own. There was no court order at all. He did not get any court order to eject them, or to demolish the place. That is his trademark.”
Agboola revealed that Nollah had approached the company’s MD, Olawuyi to transfer his unexhausted interest in the property to him, but he and the Lessors (the original owners) declined this offer. However, he noted that Nollah took advantage of a misunderstanding that ensued within the family.
According to him, “Dapo Ola Construction company was given a 15-year lease from 2012 to 2027. The lease was still subsisting. However, in 2021, some family members were fighting amongst themselves, and they went to court. Nollah claimed that two members of the family signed for him to take custody of the building which is not true because all members of the family must be a signatory.”
He further explained that it was not possible to sign a fresh contract without the expiration of that which had been reached with Dapo-Ola Company. He added that a petition has since been filed against Sikiru Nollah to the Inspector General of Police, through the Commissioner of Police Lagos state, and Area A’Police Command in Lagos Island on the matter and called on the Lagos State government to swiftly intervene in the issue.
In a chat with our correspondent, Sikiru Nollah insisted that he had all the documents to prove that the property at No 20A Church Street was legally given to him and claimed that the allegation was all propaganda against him.
He added that the demolition exercise became necessary following the induction of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, (LSBCA) that the said property was no longer safe.
In his words, ” The people that called you are bringing up lies. The matter has been to court, and the house was signed to my company in 2021 by the family. I have proof of the letters, documents and meetings we had with them, and I can give you the lawyer’s contact so that you can talk to him.”
“Again, the house in question is too dilapidated for any human to live under, having about 90 per cent living unsuitability. This made us serve a six months vacation notice and an additional one month to occupants to quit but they refused to comply,” He explained.
However, when Daily Sun contacted Nollah’s Lawyer to provide answers to these questions: “When was the property handed over to your client? Who handed the property over to him? The contact and phone numbers of the lessors, among others, does he have a court order backing the demolition? he declined to answer.
The lawyer who did not reveal his name said that he needed to get consent from his client, and promised to get back to our reporter with the said documents, but didn’t up till the point of filing this report.
A family member of the property who identified himself as a spokesperson and secretary of the Kumeifo Oba Olaribigbe family, owners of the disputed property, Lateef Tiamiyu insisted that the family never gave Alhaji Nollah consent over their building.
He said, ” No member of our family has any agreement or signed documents with one Sikiru Nollah and he has no right to trespass and demolishes the property.”