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. posted by Emanto Ngaloru Feb 25, 2014.
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