Onitsha Cleric Tells Court Why Landlord Can’t Eject Him Till 2044

An Onitsha business man and an evangelist of the Diocese on the Niger, Mr. Benjamin Ubakeze, has rejected a quit notice given to him by his landlord where he is occupying a shop at Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital Ogidi Idemili North Local Government Area Anambra State.

The recent quit notice dated March 2, 2021 was the second the Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital, management has served Evangelist Ubakeze, which he again rejected, claiming that his exit in the facility will be in 2044.

He claimed that he had a 30- year lease agreement with the Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital Management, the landlord, which started running from 2014, and anybody issuing him any quit notice to vacate the facility, like being done by the management of the  hospital and the Registered Trustees of the Diocese on the Niger, are going contrary to the law.

He therefore vowed that he will not vacate the premises until he was paid N36m by the management of the hospital the Registered Trustees of Diocese on the Niger, as funds he used in developing the facility to the enviable state it is.

According to Ubakeze, “The N36m was for cleaning up of the place and setting up structures for the business on the premises of the hospital as well as the profit I would have made from 2014 to 2044 if not ejected from facility and the lease agreement allowed to run fully”

Also speaking on the matter, lawyer to Ubakeze, Chief Obinwenite Obinmuauya, said his client cannot be intimidated out of the shop he laboured to build, adding that they have been in the battle with the management of the hospital for over one year now.

The Registered Trustees of the Diocese on the Niger had through their Attorney Rev. Tochukwu Okwuchukwu and their lawyer, C.A. Egbue, given Ubakeze seven days quit notice for the possession of one shop with its appurtenances thereto at Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital Compound Ogidi where Ubakeze’s wife, Felicia, is operating a provision store and eatery, which they alleged that Mr Ubakeze held over and detained.

In the Quit Notice dated March 2, 2021, they threatened that if the shop is not given to them on or before the expiration of seven days from the service of notice, they shall at the Magistrate Court Ogidi, apply to the Court to issue a warrant directing an appropriate person to enter and take possession of the said premises and eject any person there.

Chief Obinmuanya also stated that the Quit Notice, to Ubakeze, by the Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital Management, the landlord, is an attempt to resurrect the Magistrate Court Matter that they withdrew after he cross examined their first witness.

“You know after we cross examined their first witness who was the Bailiff of Court, it was obvious that their matter has failed, so they withdrew.

“However, this time around, their problem is that when they withdrew the matter, they had already filed another Notice to Quit, without the actual matter having been determined. So it becomes a problem to them and the Court said they will pay N5,000 Cost, which they have not paid us.

“They should therefore do what the Court asked them to do, which is paying N5,000 Cost, and they have not done that, they are giving us another Notice to Quit.

“They (landlord) are in contempt of Court, because they withdrew the matter and the Court said they should pay N5000 Cost, they have not paid it, more so the first matter has not been withdrawn and they filed another Quit Notice.

“You cannot kick start another ejection process when you have not finished the first one. So the first matter has not been withdrawn, and they are going for the second matter.”

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