Why I Dragged Emeka Ike To Court- Landlord Speaks At Last

Why I Dragged Emeka Ike To
Court- Landlord Speaks At
Last
You read the story here few weeks ago, but you never
read from the landlord and how Emeka Ike threatened
the 86year old man who has been suffering from
diabetics for 37years now. It is my property, but Emeka
threatened to deal with me over it. He refused to pay
his rent, and yet wasn’t ready to evacuate, despite my
condition, the old man said. The Sunnewsonline after
speaking with the man also spoke to the actor, but he
wonders why the media is interested in his private life.
Oh well… The story after the cut.
This is certainly not the best of times for Nollywood
actor, Emeka Ike who has been thrown out of his rented
apartment in Magodo GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, over his
inability to pay an accumulated three year rent of N8.5
million.
The apartment, a twin duplex located at 1, Raji
Oladimeji Street, Magodo GRA, was until his ejection,
used by Emeka to run his business.
Like all other professionals at the peak of their career,
Emeka had in 2007 diversified by establishing a
secondary school named St Nicholas College and
decided to hire the premises on a five-year lease
agreement from an 87-year-old retiree, Chief Samuel
Agboola Akintan at the rate of N2 million per annum for
the first two years and N3 million annually for the
remaining three years, bringing the total rent of five
years to N13 million.
Saturday Sun gathered that Emeka was able to get his
landlord accept a deposit of N2 million with a promise
to pay the rest later. Trouble, however, started when a
year after moving in, the popular actor began to default
and at a point issued a dud cheque of N1.5 million.
Determined to redeem his public image, the star actor
has, however, said he is not broke, adding that his
ejection was an injustice which he is ready to sort out
in court.
To force Emeka to pay his money and eject him from
the property, Chief Akintan through his company,
Samak Investments Ltd, had to drag the actor to the
Ikeja Magistrate court.
Without much delay, the court had on November 22, last
year ordered the actor to vacate the premises but his
refusal to heed the order led the court Sheriff to carry
out execution of the judgment on January 24 this year
when his property was thrown out.
Speaking to Saturday Sun, the octogenarian chairman
of Samak Investment Ltd, Chief Akintan wondered why
the actor chose to be a pain in his neck. He said that he
has sympathy for the Nollywood star, but
“unfortunately, Emeka doesn’t have sympathy for
himself.”
According to him, his company leased the property to
the actor on June 1, 2007. Before then, he said he had
never heard of Emeka’s name as his children were the
ones that told him that he’s a nollywood actor.
He said: “I never knew this gentleman from Adam. He
just came to my house with his wife and I was worried
about who he was and my children came to me, saying,
Emeka Ike, we know him daddy; he is a nice gentleman.
That is how I fell into his hands.”
He said the recommendation from his children made
him enter into the lease agreement of five years which
was to expire in 2012. According to him, “he was
supposed to pay for the first two years N2 million each
per annum and the subsequent three years N3 million
per annum. The total rent for that period of five years
should be N13 million. He paid N2 million for the first
year and never paid again until three years later when
he paid another N2.5 million. Even this N2.5 million
was a tug of war before he could pay it. So, out of N13
million, he paid only N4.5 million and the balance
should be N 8.5 million.”
When he wanted to take Emeka to court, he said the
popular actor begged him not to do that that he would
be living up to expectations.
“When I wanted to take the matter to court, Emeka
wrote a letter on February 15, 2012, pleading that I’m
his father and that I should halt any court process
against him. Even this N2.5 million was paid in 2011, a
year to the expiration of the five- year lease. After that,
he issued a N1.5 million Zenith bank, Eric Moore
branch cheque in my name, dated May 20, 2012, which
bounced.
“Some people advised me to take him to Special Fraud
Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria police; I refused because this
boy is a young boy like my son, why would I do that to
him; that he should leave my property.”
The relationship got worse from that moment. “After the
cheque bounced, my lawyer called him over the phone,
he started abusing me, threatening to deal with the
lawyer and me. I never looked at what he was owing
me in the past but should pay this N1.5 million. If I
were to calculate his arrears, he has to pay far more
but I am just satisfied with this N1.5 million.”
It was another round of battle when the matter
eventually shifted to the court. Unfortunately, it was
learnt Emeka’s lawyer simply identified as Bashir
stopped attending court sessions at a point.
“The magistrate became frustrated. The last he came,
he appealed that the matter be settled out of court. The
magistrate in her own initiative transferred it to multi-
door court, Igbosere. They gave us appointment but
Emeka didn’t honour it.
“I can’t walk, so the two times I went there, I was
carried like a baby to the court and Emeka didn’t come,
but my lawyer went there three times. The magistrate
at Igbosere wrote back to the one at Ikeja to go ahead
with the matter since Emeka didn’t come.
“We went back to the first court and after several
adjournments, neither Emeka nor his lawyer put up
appearance and we were asked to give our evidence
and we did, thereafter, the judgment was delivered.
“To give Emeka another opportunity, we got judgment in
November 22, but the magistrate in her wisdom said we
should give him one month to enable him to get himself
together and move out. We were supposed to take
possession by December 20, 2013 but we didn’t until
January 24, when the Commissioner of Police gave us
three policemen led by an Assistant Superintendent of
Police to follow the Court Sheriff to eject him. They
ejected him and put his property outside.”
When Emeka heard of this unsavoury development, he
was said to have gone to Magodo police station and
reported that thugs invaded his property after which the
police arrested the two guards the landlord had
stationed there.
“When in January I went to the premises, even the
teachers complained that they had never seen him for
many months and had not paid them salaries for nine
months.
“While I was in Ondo, I got a phone call that Ekeka
came to Lagos and went to Magodo police station and
reported that thugs invaded his property. Police went
there and arrested the guards and he put his own
guards and locked the place.”
Sounding emotional, Chief Akintan said: “I’m a sick
man; diabetic for 37 years. I will be 87 by my next
birthday and can’t walk. I live at the grace of doctors
and what nature can allow me to have. I’m immobile. I
had to come back to Lagos to start another process to
dislodge him. When I spoke to the DPO, Magodo police
station and tendered documents, he said, so, ‘Emeka
came here to tell him lies.’
“We have filed a contempt of court against him. We
have taken possession of the property and about
renovating it.
He is going about telling people that the place was not
completed when he moved in that he put over N200
million to build it. He has done a lot of damage to the
property. I sent my contractor to assess the damage;
he told me that I needed between N10 million and N13
million for renovation.
“I have sympathy for Emeka, but unfortunately, he has
no sympathy for himself. Emeka went to court to plead
that the judgment should be set aside, that I received a
kangaroo judgment; that the case should be retried. The
court dismissed it, saying it was abuse of court
process.
I don’t know what Emeka would do again. I have never
seen a character like that before.
“His former landlord, Dr Shofoluwe was in the same
position with me. He is looking for Emeka to pay N3.5
million rent arrears. He was ejected legally. This is the
type of man coming to trouble me now and I don’t need
cheap publicity.”
Speaking to Saturday Sun on the development, Emeka,
wondered why the media should be interested in his
private life
According to him, “there is a position now, because I
don’t want people who have not achieved anything in
their lives to use unnecessary distractions to gain
prominence. It is my money and investments and it is
not a national crisis.
Maybe people who think I have a larger than life image
are trying to use it to make a point and I want to handle
it as legal as possible.”
He noted that there can be challenges in business,
stressing that he is still in possession of the school.
He added that only two entities can close down a
school, either the government or the owner of the
school stressing that none of that has happened.
“I’m still in possession of the school. It is only the
government that has the right to shut down the school
if it feels that I’m not capable and I, as the CEO, if I feel
that I can’t do it again. Nobody can shut down the
school and the case is in court. It should not be seen as
a national crisis, I have my business in Abuja and I’m
doing very well and right now I don’t like distraction,”
he stated.