SEVERAL weeks after some heavily armed uniformed men moved in to bring down some choice properties located within Bucknor area of Jakande Estate, Ejigbo, Lagos, owners of the affected homes have alleged foul play, and now considering the option of court action against what they described as executive lawlessness.
But the Lagos State Government had risen to defend the exercise, saying the occupants do not have the legal title over the parcel of land, and therefore they do not have right to remain there.
And the issue now is who the rightful owner of the landed property? Supposing another person, as being claimed by the state had gotten a Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) over the land, from whom did the yet to be known person get the land? Is it possible for an individual to get C of O on a landed property he/she did not buy from legitimate owner? Why did the government notify the occupants of the land of its intention to demolish? These are some of the questions begging for answers, as the occupants continue to wonder on the whole scenario.
Five different properties were affected by the demolition, which was carried out on April 6, 2013. The affected landlords and tenants said the manner by which the exercise was done, made them to doubt whether they were agents of the government as claimed or not. “They condoned off the access roads to street, Edith Bendel, Oke-Afa, Isolo, Lagos”, one of the affected landlords said.
Mr. Kene Ochije, a distributor with Dangote Cement and owner of a block making firm, whose two-storey building of six flats, was demolished, told The Guardian, that the whole thing still looks like a dream to him, said he had bought the land from late Chief Osuji, left it for four years before erecting his building valued at N60million.
“I have been residing in Lagos for the past 15 years. I bought this land seven years from late Chief Martins Osuji. After concluding all processes, leading to the purchase of land, I took possession. I left the land for four years before I came to build on it.”
Ochije, who witnessed the demolition exercise said: “At about 9.00am on 6th of April, I was brushing my mouth when I heard a bang on my gate. I quickly rushed downstairs and I saw heavily armed policemen and a bulldozer. I asked them what the problem was and they told me that they had directive from the top to effect demolition and while I tried to further question them, the bulldozer was at work, pulling down my life investment. In fact, the exercise was done without allowing me to salvage any of my belongings.”
Asked if there was any controversy on the land and if he had any inkling of the exercise, Ochije said, “They said another persons owns the land and that he has gone to court and won the case against us”, wondering how a court action could be instituted against him without his knowledge.
Another victim, Chief Uche Francis, whose storey building of three flats, claimed he got his root title to the land from Ashamu family of Ejigbo in 2008.
He said he started noticing hanky-panky over the land sometime last year when some officials from Lagos State Government came to seal the gate leading to his apartment, adding that when he lodged complaint at their office, he was shocked when they told him that the land does not belong to him and that his document were not genuine.
According to him, he was still in the process of sorting the said anomaly when the bulldozer came on his property valued at N15 million.
To Mrs. Ethel Osuji, whose bungalow is worth N15 million, said she had to a vigil in her church, the Friday before the exercise and she was called to hurriedly return when the demolition team arrived, saying all appeal to rescue some of her properties from her apartment and her shop, which was filled to the brim with foodstuff, fell on deaf ears, as two policemen forcibly dragged her out of the premises, while she was trying to recover some of her wares.”
Osuji, a widow, said having lost her husband, now she has lost everything, asking how will she survive the situation of homelessness?
Another property owner, Mr. Abiola Lawal, said he acquired the property from the Ashamu land owing family through an agent Messrs. Adeola Almaroof without any problem and he had since taken possession of his space.
Lawal, an engineer, said he had heard that somebody, who did not buy the land from the rightful owner has been claiming ownership of land, questioning how anyone could be claiming ownership of what he did not owns in the first place?
According to Lawal, his vendor, had since gotten a Supreme Court judgment over the disputed land. In case between Saka Atuyeye and others and Emmanuel O. Ashamu, the court had said: “after careful consideration of the matter, the appeal lacks merit and it is accordingly dismissed with N300.00 cost to the respondent, the Ashamu family. The judgment was delivered in 1987.
But the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, said Governor Babatunde Fashola ordered the demolition, because another person had gotten a C’ of ‘O on the property, calling the occupants to advance any title and government’s recognition they have to the land.
Ayinde, who said the demolition had been signed before he joined the government, added that he only implemented Governor’s directive.
According him, it is an offence in the first place for anybody in the state to build without approval from the government, adding: “In any case the land is the bone of contention and somebody has government’s C’ of ‘O on the land.”
When he was asked he was aware of the Supreme Court judgment conferring ownership on Ashamu family, from whom the occupiers bought, Ayinde simply: “Was Lagos State Government a party to that suit?”, adding “Let them come up with any document they have to the land.”
Source; The Guardian
Author of this article: By Emmanuel Badejo
Lagos Architects Urge Review of Planning Approval Levies
EXCEPT planning approval processes are reviewed to sooth the prevailing city growth, the work of urban designers, predominantly, architects, and all stakeholders in the building industry, whose efforts are geared towards seeing the Nigeria space transformed into urban settlement will continue to be a mirage, the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Lagos Chapter, has said.
In a communique issued after the Lagos Architects Forum 2013 (LAF 2013), NIA said the time to ensure total review of the planning approval process is now. According to them, the building approval process needed to be simplified to ensure speedy project delivery, which impacts positively on the overall economy of the city.
Under the theme of the Conference “LAGOS 4.0, Architecture and Urban Design’’ the architects said that planning laws must be reviewed to make them compliant with global best practices.
Still on planning, NIA said that the inability of professionals to have access to requisite planning documents that may guide and specify building regulation requirements, under their efforts on city planning and urban design, as the various levies made to government for approval process is enormous and hinders development in Lagos State.
The 5th edition of LAF conference, which had about 1000 participants, had attendees from the public service, private practice, academia, allied professionals in the built environment, manufacturers and suppliers of building materials.
The theme focused on evolving an efficient urban space via the art of creating and shaping of cities in three dimensional form and character to make them livable and sustainable through the application of planned multiple buildings, public spaces, transport systems and infrastructure in the public sphere.
Scientific sessions with seasoned professionals on topics ranging from planning in urban centres, international standards in planning and development processes, introduction to urban design, urban spaces and social conflict, urban projects with case study in Dubai, real estate development and mass housing, made some observations on militating against urbanisation including absence of collective ownership gives rise to urban social conflict and private developments of iconic standards are not surrounded contextually by supportive facilities that may enhance their urban value.
Also, they observed that bureaucratic bottlenecks created at the approval authority with the time line for obtaining approval is unduly long, which impacts negatively on the life of the project and overall economy of the city.
They recommended that there must be integrated, planning which takes into cognizance the way of life and culture of the people so that it reflects on the urbanization of the city as well as involvement local participation to meet the challenge of attaining a fluid Urbanization process.
“There is need to foster collaboration amongst professionals to create sustainable and prosperous urbanization and review the historical development of public housing concepts which have thus far created social conflicts of isolation.
“Cities should be planned appropriately for economic growth as they affect the productivity of the people; Involvement of local content participation to meet the challenges presently faced by conventional construction, by exploring alternative construction systems, which aid speed and efficiency.
“A checklist of building approval requirements should be made available to architects’ firms to enable them comply with requisite building regulation requirements from the conceptual stage, which will cut down on time required to secure building approval.”
They also demanded the inclusion of pre-screening sessions with the local planning officers prior to submission of documents for planning permit / planning approval process and access to master plan as well as planning information and regulations.
In their overall submission, the architects called all stakeholders and managers of the city to conscientiously leverage on the city’s potential as well as the strategic position Lagos has in our natural system, adding that, if given the best of attention, the quantum leap of development will be significant and sustainable.
In his goodwill message, NIA president, Mr. Ibrahim Haruna, said the theme of the conference was timely, as urban design is one missing link the nation’s land space. “the theme is apt considering out town and urban spaces on one hand and the reality of urbanisation on the other hand. I am of the strong opinion that urban design is the missing link between huge investments especially since the 70s and sprawls of peripheries, shapelessness of the intervening spaces and decay of most Nigerian urban centre.”
Earlier, in his keynote address by Brig. Gen. (rtd) Tunde Reis, he said there was need to situate iconic buildings within their urban context, which may create a hub towards developing such urban space.
In his paper, he stated that all professionals are saddled with the responsibility of driving urban development, and there could not have been a better time to have a concerted effort than now in view of the challenges of globalization, climate change, urban sprawl and economic recession.
Source; The Guardian
Author of this article: By Emmanuel Badejo
Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme allocation to begin soon
Four thousand, two hundred and nineteen (4, 219) housing units under the Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme in 12 locations across the state will be allocated before the end of the year.
Governor Babatunde Fashola made the disclosure on Wednesday May 29th 2013, while rendering account of his stewardship in the last six years on a live television programme.
According to him, the houses are located in Sangotedo with 540 units; Ogba, 270 units; Shitta, 36 units; Ilupeju, 60 units; Mushin, 73 units; and Agbowa Phases 1 and 2, 660 units.
He said others currently ongoing included 540 units at the Ajara Housing Estate; Ibeshe Housing Scheme, 720 units; Iponri, 144 units; Oyingbo Phases 1 and 2,t 48 and 120 units, respectively; and Badia in Ijora, 1,008 units.
Fashola said allocations would be made through public raffle draws that would ensure that those who regularly paid their taxes would be among the beneficiaries.
He said, “We are almost done. What we are trying to avoid first is the need for anybody, any member of the public, to be a relation or friend of any member of people in government in order to get a house. We want to eliminate that.
“We have prepared forms, we have set up a Lagos Mortgage Board, we are recapitalising Lagos Building and Investment Company to give mortgages, we have set up arbitration rules and we have gone through the mortgage document. We have prepared the draw rules; it is going to happen by draws, which will be made public.
“We have set guidelines for those who will be eligible, those who pay their taxes; so, it will not do to rush to go and pay the tax overnight because we built it with taxpayers’ money. We expect that it is only fair that those who have been paying faithfully must get priority for something at this point.”
The governor said winners of the houses would be able to pay over a period of 10 years after parting with 30 per cent of the value of the houses as equity.
“Affordability is that we will not ask you to pay cash once and for all. The sense of affordability is that, as I have always said, there is no low cost cement sold to government, there is no low cost iron rod. We borrow at the same interest rate, our contractors charge us the import duties and all of the cost attendants of bringing in the raw materials to build the houses,” he said.
Speaking on flooding, the governor said residents of the state must begin to accept the situation of perennial flooding as a natural phenomenon, which they must live with as the state was below sea level, urging everyone to make adequate preparation for the rainy season.
Fashola said, “One good way to explain this, because we, perhaps, don’t understand sufficiently or don’t accept our situation that we are living below sea level, is that we are living inside water, and to keep this city dry and to keep the water flowing, it is just a feat of engineering, which first the credit must go to my predecessors for all of what they have done and the current generation of the team that I work with, for what we are adding onto it.
“When the rain is intense, the capacity of our drains, as the hand basin, to flush off everything at the same time, is certainly not there because it is going into the lagoon, but the lagoon is also filling up as the land is filling up. As soon as the rain subsides, the hydraulic activity takes over; so, within a few hours, it is gone.”
Source: The PUNCH
Developers Dupe Over 100 Prospective Tenants
April 2, 2013 by Eniola Akinkuotu
In what could have passed for an April Fool’s Day prank, some accommodation seekers who allegedly paid for a property situated at 12 Daniel Makinde Street, Ketu, Lagos realized on Monday that they had been duped.
A group of developers allegedly collected money on apartments from the accommodation seekers, telling them to come for their keys on Monday, but they were nowhere to be found.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the developers, now at large, collected sums of money ranging from N200,000 to N750,000 to rent out 14 flats.
Our correspondent, who visited the scene, saw many of the victims crying. Some of them expressed fears that they would soon be rendered homeless.
A victim, Opeyemi Okekunle, said, “In November last year, I saw on a poster that there was vacancy in the area and I called the phone number and one Adebayo Timothy Balogun, who told me that it would cost N180,000 for a ‘self-contained apartment’ while the flat was N480,000. I paid and I was issued a receipt
“In December, I came to take possession of the apartment but he told me that the house was still under construction. In January, I returned but he said I should come back in February. In February when I returned, I was told to remain calm.
“I kept coming everyday in March and I was told that everything would be ready on April 1. Little did I know that the developer was playing an April fool’s prank on me. On Sunday, a friend called me to say that she noticed people moving into the compound. On getting there, I was shocked to meet other people.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that some of the prospective tenants had been given keys to their respective apartments only to discover at the point of moving in that the locks had been changed.
It was also learnt that apart from Balogun, one Hakeem Olanrewaju and two other agents had also collected money from the victims.
Another victim, Bolanle Faleti, told our correspondent that , she and her husband had spent all their savings in securing accommodation. She said she had no clue where she, her husband and four children would lay their heads.
It was learnt that the landlord of the said property was late but his children and wives hired different developers.
A male victim, Tunde Olaleye, said he lives in Mushin but decided to leave the area with his family due to recurring violence. He said he had already paid a carpenter to start making furniture for his new apartment.
He said, “I stay in Mushin and at least three people have been killed in the area in the past one week. I decided to leave the area because it is not safe and my tenancy had already expired. I had believed I would move in today (yesterday) after paying N420, 000 for a two-bedroom flat.
“On getting to the flat I paid for, I noticed that someone else was already living there.”
Another victim, Onome Omojowe, who is a lawyer, said the matter had been reported at the Ketu Police Division and that a petition to be sent to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, the State Security Service and the office of the state governor was being prepared.
While addressing the victims, the Chairman, Ikosi/Isheri Local Council Development Area, Abdulfatai Oyesanya, urged them not to take the law into their own hands and allow the police to carry out investigations..
Our correspondent learnt that the victims had opened a register, recording their names and the amount of money each of them paid. As of the time our correspondent left the area, 100 people had written their names.
When contacted on the telephone, the spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said three suspects had been arrested. She however said the prime suspects were still at large.
Firstly Condolence to those people or Victims who have lost their money to these fraudulent developers.
May they not go unpunished for causing misery and pains to so many families because of their greed and selfishness. But this Tenancy Scam has brought about some issues i wish to address to help people avoid such pitfalls next time it occurs. It is becoming very very rampant especially in Big cities in Nigeria where there is a mad rush for the limited apartments for rent and we all have to help ourselves to do something to prevent such sad occurence in future.
1. Before you rent an apartment your not too sure about, contact a lawyer to investigate the developers or Agent. He is in a better position to ask for certain tenancy agreements, leases, contracts or deeds of ownership that the Owner of Agent representative is asking for. He can spot out certain irregularities involved to assist you so as not to fall victim to these scumbags. Always ask questions when your not too sure about something. There is nothing like a silly question when your money is involved. Its better to ask a dumb question and get answers reluctantly than keep silent and presume all is well.
2.If your going it Alone without a Lawyer, make sure you visit the apartment personally. Inspect everything from the doors to the cupboards to the walls to see whether there are inherent defects in the building. Once you have done that, demand that you intend to pay for the apartment ONLY if you can see the Landlord or the Management team. If stories begin to crop out that the Landlord cannot be seen because he has travelled or that he stays in another state but you can pay the Agent and he will convey your wishes and money to the Landlord, be very suspicious and wary and walk away.
A landlord or Management team must always be accessible to a prospective tenant so that they can assess themselves who they want to lease the apartment too. No landlord wants to rent his or her apartment to just anyone, so they themselves would love to do background checks. When there is an absence of a proper question and answer session to know more about you, know its a scam if its only your money they are interested in. Once you hear 'PAY QUICK BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN THE SAME APARTMENT AND ITS A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE THING' Without any special interest in you or your background, know its a sharp scam to get your money out quickly.
3. Dont pay for Uncompleted buildings too when you haven't seen the Owner or more especially Don't pay for an Uncompleted building when you know the apartment won't be completed within a reasonable period of time. An uncompleted building you could pay for should deal with only the interior part such as doors, windows, cupboards or sinks, not flooring, roofing, tiling, complete plumbing and major work that you should know will run into Millions of Naira before its completed. A scamming Landlord or Agent will just collect your money and use it to carry out minor works in the house and when your money is exhausted, they will go and look for other prospective tenants to use their money to complete the house and its the last set of people that paid money for the final completion of the House that will get the keys to the apartment and freeze you out. I should know what am talking about because i have also being a Victim of this particular Scam at KayFarm Estate Ogba and it was perpetrated by one manager at Sterling bank Marina. It took me 2 months to get 3/4 of my money back but at least i can count myself as one of the lucky ones. Please don't fall victim to these people after this.
4. Before you pay any Agent or Management Team make sure you visit the offices and ascertain the address of the Agents to confirm they exist.Also before any Agent or Management team collects your money make sure you ask them for a 'POWER OF ATTORNEY' duly signed and sworn to at a court given to the Agent by the Landlord. That will give you extra security to know your dealing with the right person or people and know who to hold responsible for any malfeasance but make sure you give the Power of Attorney to a Lawyer to help you check out the authenticity of it before you pay. A lot of Agents are running around claiming to represent the Landlord or have a direct link to him. Never pay an Agent without such Power of Attorney from the Landlord to do so on his behalf. Its not the Agent letting the house out but the Landlord and when wahala comes, you have no remedy to back you up.
5. Also before you pay for any Apartment,make sure you stay within the area and ask neighbors around about the apartment you intend to rent. Never Underestimate the power of getting friendly with the artisans living around that property because they have all the good juicy stories about the environment and people involv[b][/b]ed. A simple visit to the vulcanizer or woman selling minerals around in exchange for N100 can provide you with all the information the Agent won't pass across to you willingly. Once you hear frightening or skeptical stories about the Owner or apartment, its your Cue to disappear and run with your money.
6. If your paying for an Uncompleted building, never pay in full. If your so desperate and patient to wait for that uncompleted property you desire make sure you convey to the Owner or Agent that your paying part deposit to safeguard your interest too. If the Landlord is adverse to that and only wants the full payment without giving you any assurance or extra safeguard that the apartment will be yours, then walk away. He is only looking out for himself and your money. Who is looking after your own Interest and Your money?
7. If the house is not a new house, always ask for the tenancy agreements of the previous tenants there and past receipts of the previous tenants to know whether its the same Landlord or Agent that has been in charge of the property from time and not new people posing as owners with the intention of ripping you off. When you hear of more than 1 AGENT claiming to representing the Landlord then know something fishy is going on with that apartment.
8. Finally issuance of a receipt doesn't mean your the owner of that apartment. Make sure when your paying for an apartment, its operation collect receipt and collect the keys to take possession immediately. (No Dulling) Don't collect receipt for an apartment whereby you cant take immediate possession. Your just playing into the hands of these scammers because they will do the same thing for hundreds of people until you realize you are just one of the Victims that they have played a fast one over.
With the above tips and advise, you will be able to avoid falling victim to these Tenancy Scams. Cheers
Source: The PUNCH
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