Staff of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr Francis Obiakor, has raised alarm that an Enugu based legal practitioner, Mrs Ogochukwu Victor-Okoli, wants to covet his property that was given to her to manage.
Obiakor, who showed journalists the properties of his tenants the lawyer ejected out of his house with armed thugs without his authority on Saturday, disclosed that he had on April 21, 2021 formally disengaged the legal services of the lawyer after 11 years she managed his house, No. 12 Chief Ekwueme Street, Uwani Enugu.
He said that the lawyer after three weeks he disengaged her services went to the house and threatened his tenants to either renew their tenancy with her or move out of the house.
According him, she didn’t stop at that, went further to issue a Quit Notice to his caretaker and another tenant who just renewed his annual rent because the tenant paid through his new appointed attorney.
“Unfortunately, on Friday night around 11:30pm she sent three armed men to eject the two tenants from my house and padlock the doors.”
Obiakor who said he had reported the matter to the police, appealed to the intervention of the Nigerian Bar Association to prevail on her from coveting his property.
He said, “This house is my house. The house was bought by my late wife and we have a son who is a minor. So far I suppose to manage the property for my son until when he grows up.
On April 21, I gave my former lawyer, O. C Victor-Okoli letter that I doesn’t want her legal services again and give the house to another attorney to manage. She accepted the letter of disengagement and told me that I shouldn’t have written her, that I should have just phone her. I told her that I wanted to make formal.
“After that I held a meeting with the tenants and introduced my new appointed attorney to them. I asked to deal with the attorney in anything concerning the house. For those their rent was due for renewal I asked to pay through the new lawyer.
“Unfortunately, after three weeks my former lawyer came back claiming that the property belongs to her; that my late wife told her orally to keep managing the house in perpetuity. I am alive and my son is alive, my wife has many brothers and sisters who can testify that my wife never told her to take care of the house.
“So this morning I got a call that the lawyer came with three armed men late in the night to eject two of my tenants. The armed brought their properties outside and lock my doors with padlock without my authority.
“I don’t know why she should do that. She cannot represent me here again and I have told her. I don’t know why she is doing that whether she wants to claim my property.”
He added, “I have reported the matter to the police and I was asked to come back on Monday, June 7, 2021.”
Obiakor also disclosed that the lawyer was yet to pay him N72,000 rent he collected from a tenant since December, 2020.
“She brought a tenant without my authority and has refused to pay me the rent. I asked her to refund the tenant since December and the tenant is still in my house and she has refused to remit the rent. The money she collected from the tenant was N72,000. She just imposed the tenant on me. Why?” He queried.
When contacted, she said that his late wife, Mrs Elizabeth Obiakor empowered her to manage the property and to the best of her knowledge she hasn’t been disengaged.
“Mrs Elizabeth in her death declaration, said that I should manage the property for her only son.
“So, if her husband wants to disengage our service, he should come to a round table with us and we will tell him what to pay us as outstanding debt.”
On why she sent armed men to eject his tenants in the night, she said “I didn’t send any armed men,” adding “the people that ejected the two tenants were people he had used to eject five tenants before in the property.”
