• Subscribers seek govt’s intervention on alleged eviction threats
Dispute has erupted between a property developer, HOB Estate and some subscribers over failure to fulfil 17-year-old mortgage agreements.

The estate developed in 2007 under the Federal Government’s Public-Private Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement and allocated to National Housing Fund (NHF) subscribers in Akure, Ondo State, comprises 319 housing units.
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However, trouble started between both parties, when some of the tenants refused to process agreed mortgage arrangements and conspired with other occupiers to live rent-free in the buildings, while the developer continued to service debts accrued for the construction of the estate 17 years after.

The Chairman, HOB Estate Limited, Olusegun Bamgbade, alleged that his erstwhile estate manager connived with some residents to default in payment and engage in an attempt to take over the estate.

Bamgbade alleged that “the sacked manager who has been arrested assured the recalcitrant occupiers that (he) the developer would never show up because he is incapacitated and cannot remember debt owed in the housing estate.

“My company is paying the estate security guards from the rents accruable from my other properties in Lagos. As of June 2024, they owe over N14 million in estate security dues, yet I keep paying for the security services on their behalf.

“Otiyeke Security Company, officially engaged by my company in January 2019 was chased away on April 1, 2024, with thugs who used dangerous weapons. We reported the matter to Zone 17, Akure where we earlier reported a case of theft, forgery, and criminal conversion of properties in the estate,” he said.

The developer said: “During estate inspection on June 3, 2024, I discovered that over half of my estate has been ceded away; fenced with blocks including some of my buildings in the estate. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the sacked estate manager and some residents were responsible. I immediately reported the matter again at Zone 17, Akure.”

Bamgbade advised the residents to vacate the properties so that his firm could make better use of them, noting that they have been living in the estate rent-free for several years and pretending to be waiting for a Primary Mortgage Institution (PMI).

“If you want to own a property, you have to secure your loan for property ownership, and not the responsibility of the property developers. Those who are genuinely interested in owning properties in the housing estate have done the needful,” he said.

But, in a recent ‘Save-Our-Soul’ report, the residents alleged that management of the estate is threatening them with eviction notice, and called for the government’s intervention on the matter. The residents accused the developer of converting their ownership of the units to rent, outright purchase and contemplating forceful eviction.

The subscribers claim they’re supposed to be under a mortgage finance arrangement and are expected to embark on instalment payments through a PMI to be given to them by HOB Nigeria Limited.
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