SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

Victims protest housing scam in Lagos.

Eighty people threatened to burn down an apartment building at No. 5 Ogundare Street, Oke-Odo, Abule–Egba, Lagos, after they found out that they had been duped.

The protesters gathered outside the one-storey building with cans of fuel to set fire to the building after they discovered that the owners of the building had connived with some developers to defraud them collectively of over N10 million, money they paid for different flats in the building.

The protesters had receipts of different amounts they had paid. Some had receipts of N250,000 for a mini flat, others N450,000 and some N500,000 for a three-room apartment.

The fraud was discovered when the tenants gathered in front of the house with their furniture and found out that the rooms they had paid for were already being occupied by other tenants.

One of the protesters who identified himself as Olu Shola said he paid N250,000 for a mini flat.
I am one of the numerous people that was duped of N250,000 for a mini flat,” he said.
I paid the rent in November and they told me to move in by January.

Unfortunately, when I got to the house on January 1st, I met other people living inside the house I was supposed to move in.

I also noticed that other people had brought in their things and they were not allowed to move into the rooms they paid for.

By the time we looked at our receipts, we saw that the same group of people have collected money from different people for the same rooms. We are more than 80, and when we calculated the money we all paid, we saw that the money was like N18 million,” Shola said.

Landlord on the run The angry tenants were determined to burn down the building but anti-robbery police officers came and dispersed the group.

One of the men who allegedly collected money from some tenants, one Saheed, was later arrested by the police. He was almost lynched by the angry tenants.

The people involved in this house racketing are more than six — one Ganiu Olatunbosun, Saheed Asela, and one Bayo,” said Jimoh Obajimi, a paint merchant in Abule Egba.

We do not know the whereabouts of the others who called themselves developers. It was my brother that paid N250,000 for the mini flat, and I am supposed to move his load into the house on January 1st. When I got there, the room was being occupied,” he said.

Obajimi confirmed that the person his brother paid the money to had been arrested. “I heard the police From Area G Ogba arrested Alhaji Saheed,” he said.

We have threatened that if we do not get our money by Saturday, we will burn down that dubious house. You need to see the people they have duped.

One widow was just rolling on the floor saying that she paid N450,000; others with their families, they do not have anywhere to go. The police must arrest the rest so we can get our money back.