Landlord Docked Over Illegal Ejection

The police in Lagos have arraigned a landlord, Mr. Sunday Edeme Nwachukwu, 48 before the Ejigbo Magistrate’s Court, Isolo, Lagos for illegally packing out his tenant’s properties and converting some of them into his personal use.

The accused allegedly packed out the properties of Mrs. Kate Airhumwunde, who travelled abroad to deliver her baby without recourse to the law.

The police arrested him following a report that he broke into Kate’s three-bedroom flat and carted away all her properties and rented the flat to another tenant even though the rent paid by Kate was yet to expire.

Apart from breaking into her flat, he reportedly converted all her properties to his personal use. Some are said to be missing. Items recovered from him include a Plasma television, air conditioners, fridges, cooking utensils, among others and a cash of 35,000 Euros kept in the house.

The total cost of the items was put at N48 million.

Problems started for the accused when Kate’s sister, Mrs. Passion Philips went to the house and discovered what the landlord had done. She reported the matter at the Idimu Police Station and upon investigation, the police recovered the properties from his parlour.

He was charged to court on a five-count charge of illegal ejection, conversion and stealing.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and the magistrate, Mrs. M.B. Folami granted him bail and adjourned for trial.

Initially, the trial was stalled because Kate, who was the principal witness, was in Italy where she went for a business transaction and to deliver her baby.

Thinking that the trial will die a natural death because the tenant will not come back to Nigeria to testify in court against him, the accused was shocked to see Kate in court at the last sitting.

The tenant testified against him and tendered some documents to show that her tenancy had not expired. Kate told the court that she did not believe that the landlord could do such a thing because she was not owing him rent and she had assisted his family in the past.

She told the presiding magistrate that the landlord asked her to assist him because he was jobless.

She said that it was while she was nursing her new baby that her sister, Passion, phoned her that the landlord had broken into her flat and carted away her properties and the goods she kept for sale.

The matter has been adjourned till 7 March, 2011 for continuation of trial.

—Cyriacus Izuekwe