Hoteliers convert buildings, seek buyers in Synagogue Church vicinity

Following death of the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, the church vicinity in Ikotun, Lagos, which used to be a beehive of activities, has gradually turned a ghost town.

The situation has triggered a mass exodus of businesses, including hospitality industry, eateries, convenient stores and business centres, with most of them closing shops.

Worst hit is the hotels and short-stay apartments within the church area. The Guardian investigation showed that most of them have put up their properties for sale as their businesses have dwindled. Some of the investors have also hired architects and estate surveyors to assess for modification as well as ascertain current value of their property.

While some of the buildings are being converted to residential apartments, some of the hotels have already been sold and others are still in the property market. For instance, the popular Victoria Continental Hotel has been sold while Hymax Grace Hotel and Suites, Glorious Hotel and Suites have retrenched of its over 100 staff.

One of the former workers of Hymax Glorious, said before his retrenchment, the company struggled with securing two lodgers as against over 100 lodgers it used to have.

Emmanuel Ogbebor said: “I was a security man at Hymax Grace hotel before they sacked me because they couldn’t pay my salary anymore. People were no longer lodging in the hotel, that was why they had to sack us. The main customers that lodged there were people from the church with over 100 rooms”

“Now I am working as a security personnel with Glorious Hotel and suits. Before you came I have been sleeping. We have more than 200 rooms in this hotel and within the last 10 months, the total lodgers are not up 100. As I speak to you, the 200 rooms have been empty for some months now. There is nobody coming to SCOAN that would require them to lodge here”

“Before, when the prophet was alive, the whole rooms used to be filled with foreigners everyday because they are the members of SCOAN who need healing or something. Then the church functions weekly with activities. It can either be Monday to Friday, T.B Joshua must surely come out to say something. So people from all over the world would like to come and listen,” he said.

He added that the rooms have been taken over by cobwebs and insects, adding that current staff strength has dropped from 100 to six workers as owner may join others to auction the property.

“Sometimes, on Saturdays, we get only one visitor and we can’t put on the generator because of one visitor. How can we be spending about N500, 000 on diesel on one visitor? It’s not possible,” he said.

An estate agent in the area, Akeem Olasiga, said two hotels are on the disposal list. Akeem said: “Victoria Continental Hotel and Suites just sold their building because no customer was coming, De Lodge will soon sell their hotel and Glorious hotel. This hotel I can confirm to you that since the death of T.B Joshua the customers that have entered are not up to 50.

“Many other hotels have converted their lodge to apartments because they were expecting that the current pastor, Madam Evelyn Joshua, would open the church for members and our businesses would be back. But it has not been like that.”