A widow, Mrs Halima Abubakar 60, has
revealed how armed thugs stormed her home at Ikoyi, Lagos State and allegedly
attempted to kill her and her 92-year-old mother because she refused to sell
her property to a developer.
Abubakar, a widow, claimed that Mr Felix
Ezeamama, a developer, was threatening to kill her in order to take over her
two flats, ‘Flats A and B’ of Block A, bungalow,’ 41 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi,
Lagos State.
She alleged that determined to
murder her because of her property, Ezeamama with some thugs stormed her home,
brutalising her and her 92-year-old mother. The thugs demolished one of the
flats, also allegedly stole some of her trinkets and then left
She reported the attack to the
police and Ezeamama was arrested and later arraigned. He was, among other
offences, charged for armed robbery.
Abubakar, however, became devastated
after the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) advised that the
robbery charged levelled against Ezeamama be dropped.
Recollecting the genesis of her
troubles with Ezeamama, Abubakar said everything had to do with the flats she bought
while in the service.
After she completed her full payment,
a Certificate of Occupancy (C/O) was issued to all those who applied and completed
their payments.
She narrated: “I was living in my
apartment with my family members and my 92-year-old mother, when the developer,
Ezeamama, approached every occupants of the building. He said that he was
interested in buying the properties. After negotiation with the developer, other
tenants and I, agreed to sell each flat for N7million. We made our minds known
to him and he accepted. He paid other tenants N7million. When it was my turn,
he said he would also pay me N7million. Each flat was supposed to be N7million.
Since mine is two flats, he was supposed to pay me N14million.”
She continued with her narration: “One
fateful day, I was outside with some of my family members when Ezeamama and
some thugs invaded our compound. I was shocked. They pounced on me for no
reason and forcibly collected the keys of the flats from me. They beat up my 92-year-old
mother, injured me and demolished one of the flats and then ran away.
“I immediately rushed to Ikoyi Police
Station to report the matter. Ezeamama was arrested and charged to court for
robbery and attempted murder and unlawful demolishing of property.”
Abubakar said that during the court proceedings
at the Igbosere Magistrates Court on May 30, 2017, the court had ordered that Ezeamama
be remanded in prison.
Abubakar said: “To my surprise and
that of everyone, DPP advised that Ezeamama be charged for illegal demolition
of the property, assault and stealing contrary to the charges presented in
court by the police based on investigations.”
It was learnt that the DPP had based
its advice on the fact that the complainant, a retired civil servant continued
to reside inside in a Federal Government building four years after retirement.
It was gathered that investigations
carried out by detectives attached to the State Criminal Investigations
Department (SCID), revealed that Abubakar was lawfully allocated Flats A and B
of ‘Block A bungalow’ at 41 Alfred Rewane Road. She had been living there
before, and after her retirement from the Federal Civil Service.
The police told the court that
Ezeamama and others at large, while armed with dangerous weapons such as guns,
cutlasses and sledge hammers invaded Abubakar’s property and demolished
it.
Police had also revealed in the
course of investigation that Ezeamama and his partners, while demolishing the
property, attempted to kill Abubakar and her 92-year-old mother.
She cried: “Since he returned from
prison, he had been threatening to deal with me ruthlessly. He said that no
matter what I do, or didn’t do, he would collect my property from me.”
Reacting to some of Abubakar’s
allegations, Ezeamama
said: “The woman that accused me of demolishing her house is a criminal. She
signed documents along with 14 others, whom I had already paid. She was paid the
total amount of her money. Thereafter, she refused to allow us to move into the
property after she had received money from us. I leased the property to a
company, after I had paid her. The
company I leased the property to went to the house to clear the house with a legitimate
court order. When the company was doing the clearing, Alhaja Halima Abubakar
called policemen. The policemen stopped the company that brought the property
from carrying out works. Policemen
chased the company that I leased the property to. I wrote to the Inspector-General
of Police about the matter. The woman was invited to come to Abuja, but she refused
to honour the invitation. To my surprise, she went to Oba of Lagos to cook up a
story against me. I was arrested, and through a secret magistrate order,
charged to court and remanded in prison. I spent 16 days in prison before
I was allowed to go. Whenever the matter was about to get judgment, she would
withdraw it from the court; she has done it for about four times.”
During
the interview with our correspondent, Ezeamama phone rang from his inner
office. He went to pick it. When he came back, he said that he couldn’t speak
further on the matter, because it was already in court.
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