BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

Chief Boniface Ezeisi had no premonition of the loss ahead when he signed a tenancy deal with Alexis Properties Limited, the supposed manager of a rundown property at 26, Murtala Muhammed Int’l Airport Road, Lagos in 2010.

A major dealer in motorcycles and tricycles with branches across Nigeria and headquarters in Aba, Abia State, Boniface, Managing Director, Boney Marcus Industries Limited, arrived at a consensus with one Osanyidatola Kola and Adewale Maku of Alexis Properties to redevelop the property, pay a two-year rent and move in as tenant, beginning from July 1st, 2010.

“Based on that agreement, I rebuilt the front one-story building in the premises at the cost of over N11,000,000 and furnished the top floor as my office while the ground floor served as showroom for the sales of my motorcycles, tricycles and spare parts.

“Aside the cost of rebuilding the property, my agreed rent was N720,000 for two years, which I paid to Alexis Properties. I subsequently paid a two-year rent of N250,000 for an additional room in the main building behind the one-story building I occupied in the premises. That particular tenancy commenced September 1st, 2010. In 2012, I equally renewed both rents to June and August 2013 respectively”, Boniface narrated to Sunday Vanguard.

Mysterious eviction
Trouble however struck on 19th March, 2013, when some police officers from Makinde Divisional Police Station, accompanied by a man simply identified as Okoro (aka Major Okoro), who allegedly claimed to be Chief Security Officer at Globacom Limited, visited Boniface. Okoro was alleged to have verbally given Boniface a 21-day ultimatum to vacate the property or face forced eviction.

When contacted by Boniface, Alexis Properties assured him he would not be forcefully evicted, but solicited his cooperation to start looking for alternative accommodation, giving Boniface another one month quit notice.
While negotiation was still on however, Okoro allegedly led a team of private security men, evicted all the occupants of the main building, sealed it up, leaving a stern warning to Boniface to vacate the front one-storey building within one week.

Meanwhile, the entrance to the main building was locked with security men deployed to secure it daily, thereby denying Boniface access to his rented room in the main house and the space behind where he usually assembled his motorcycles and tricycles.
Okoro allegedly visited again on 24th May, 2013, with Mobile Policemen.

Barred from valuables
“With a wave of his hand, he instructed the private security men to force the lock to the one-story building I was occupying open, and my goods were recklessly thrown out. My workers were not allowed to take custody of the goods as the Mobile Policemen chased them away.  Even when I got to the scene, the policemen threatened to rough handle me if I came close.

When they finished, they locked up the premises and positioned private security men to prevent access, with my valuables within, even as I speak. I have lost over N20,000,000 worth of goods due to the illegal acts.
“What baffles me was the manner of the eviction and the impression that I occupied the office illegally. I am willing to evacuate the building. All I want now is access into it to enable me ascertain whether my valuables are intact and then I can move out. All efforts to get the police to intervene in the matter have been unfruitful and this is frustrating. I am a businessman and this is totally unfair to me in all ramifications”, Boniface sadly told Sunday Vanguard.

Conflicting ownership
Meanwhile, efforts by Sunday to contact Okoro proved futile, and when Osanyidatola of Alexis Properties was contacted for his side of the story, he insisted Globacom owned the property, and when asked whether Boniface defaulted in any way to have earned himself  such shoddy eviction, Osanyidatola simply dismissed the subject as “a very long story”.