A 67-year-old tenant, Pastor Bolaji Olukotun, has died after he was allegedly assaulted and forcefully evicted from his residence at Admiralty Homes Estate, Lekki, Lagos, by suspected agents of a landlord during a disputed property takeover.
PUNCH Metro learnt on Saturday that the incident occurred on Saturday, July 11, while the victim died in the early hours of last Sunday after he was rushed to a private hospital.
According to an eyewitness account by his lawyer, Barrister Akpobome Deniran, the incident stemmed from an unresolved rental dispute between Pastor Bolaji and his landlord.
He noted that Bolaji had rented the apartment with the agreement that he could buy it upon the expiration of his lease. However, when his tenancy expired, and the landlord made an offer, the late Bolaji could not fulfil the monetary requirements.
The non-fulfilment of the sales agreement was said to have prompted the landlord to insist that Bolaji should vacate the apartment so that the property would be sold to another buyer.
Narrating the circumstances behind his client’s death, Deniran said he received a distress call from his client at about 2 pm on July 11.
“He was in obvious distress and pleaded with me to come to his residence immediately, stating that, ‘I’m dying, please come to the house, I’m dying.’ His voice was weak, trembling, and laden with pain,” the lawyer said.
He said that upon arriving at House B11, Admiralty Homes Estate, he found the pastor lying on the ground in the compound.
According to him, the victim’s furniture, clothing, documents, and other household items had been scattered outside the premises, indicating that he had been forcibly ejected from his home.
The lawyer alleged that more than seven armed thugs, an armed mobile police officer, estate agent Blessing Idonor and a prospective buyer identified as Mr Smith (Murphy) were present during the incident.
“He was in a state of severe physical distress—vomiting, groaning in excruciating pain, and crying out for help. He was barely able to speak and was visibly deteriorating by the minute,” he added.
He quoted Mr Smith as telling him that he had come to take possession of the property because he had purchased it and that “the eviction was lawful.”
Deniran said Idonor supported the claim, allegedly telling him that the previous owner had authorised the eviction and was monitoring the operation on the CCTV camera.
According to the lawyer, the suspected thugs and the mobile police officer denied assaulting the pastor.
Deniran continued, “They alleged that he had ingested a substance and was merely ‘pretending and acting drama.’ They made a mockery of his condition, laughing and ridiculing him while he lay on the ground in obvious agony.
“I stated unequivocally that they had no right to carry out such a forceful eviction without a valid court order or legal process.
I informed them that they had taken the law into their own hands and would be held accountable for their actions.”
He added that when he requested proof of ownership or a court order, Mr Smith allegedly refused and replied that “I should take him to court, where he would provide same.”
The lawyer further alleged that he was threatened after attempting to photograph the scene.
“The Mobile Police Officer cocked his rifle and pointed it in my direction. He threatened to shoot me in the legs if he saw his image captured on my phone. He further threatened to destroy my phone.”
According to him, the officer later searched his phone and, after finding no photographs of him, remarked that he was “lucky” before warning him against documenting the incident further.
Deniran said he subsequently contacted the estate’s head of security, identified as Angela, who allegedly admitted allowing those involved into the estate because the owner had contacted her.
When he asked whether any court order or ownership documents had been presented before access was granted, she allegedly replied: “Since you are a lawyer, you know what to do. I am not going to disclose further details to you.”
The lawyer said severe flooding delayed efforts to evacuate the victim until a water truck driver assisted in taking him out of the estate, after which he was rushed to Udeko Medical Centre in the Chevron area of Lekki.
He said Olukotun continued complaining of severe stomach pain while receiving treatment before he reported the incident at the Ilasan Police Station later that evening.
According to Deniran, he later received a call from the victim’s son informing him that his father had been placed on oxygen.
Hours later, he said the attending doctor informed him that the pastor had died.
“I refused to accept the report and called back some hours later. I was given the same devastating news,” he stated.
Concluding his account, Deniran alleged that “Pastor Bolaji Olukotun is dead. His death was a direct and proximate consequence of the unlawful, forceful, and brutal eviction carried out by individuals who took the law into their hands. No court order was obtained. No Warrant of Execution was issued. No legal process was followed.”
Also speaking with our correspondent in a telephone interview, the late Bolaji’s son, Ayodeji Olukotun, noted that his father had entered into a rent-to-own agreement on the property but was later informed that the owner no longer wished to sell the house and instead asked him to vacate.
According to him, an eyewitness account that he gathered indicated that estate agents, accompanied by a man introduced as the prospective buyer, a police officer and several suspected thugs, arrived at the property on the day of the incident.
“They brought him downstairs, outside, saying that he drank something,” Ayodeji alleged.
Questioning that account, he said, “If somebody drank something and was already writhing in pain, why leave him outside instead of trying to save him?”
He also disputed claims that his father had voluntarily packed his belongings while questioning how those who entered the property gained access.
“With the pictures we saw, his properties were outside. It was like a forceful eviction.
“The estate management gave them access. Not one or two people, but about seven thugs, a police officer, the supposed new owner and the agents entered the estate,” he alleged.
He also challenged claims that his father opened the door for those who entered.
“If, as they claimed, he was already in serious pain, how was he able to get up and open the door for them?” he asked.
The deceased’s son said the family expected the police to immediately question everyone present during the incident after a report was lodged.
“We expected the police to arrest those involved for questioning, but after the report was made, we didn’t hear anything back,” he said.
He called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his father’s death, insisting that the family wanted justice and the truth established.
Efforts to get the reaction of the landlord, Chikeluba Francis, proved abortive as calls to his line were unsuccessful, while messages sent to his WhatsApp were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
However, reacting to the allegations, the solicitor to the landlord, Caleb Onwe, whose contact was retrieved from one of the correspondences addressed to the deceased tenant, denied that Olukotun was forcibly evicted.
“Nobody was evicted,” Onwe said when asked about claims that the deceased had been forcefully removed from the property.
The lawyer also said he was unaware that the tenant had died.
“We are not aware,” he said when informed that the occupant had reportedly died following the incident.
Onwe said the property owner, who he described as being outside Nigeria, had been trying to sell the apartment after the tenant’s tenancy allegedly expired.
According to him, officials, accompanied by a police officer, visited the property on Saturday alongside the estate agent and a prospective buyer to inspect it after the tenant allegedly told them he would vacate the premises.
He claimed that when they gained access to the apartment, they found the tenant already packing his belongings and lying weak inside the house.
“When they got there, they saw that the man was lying in the house with his properties already packed. He was packing and moving his properties. The man was weak; he couldn’t move.
“He said that he was tired of fighting, and he took something and that he bought something from Jakande,” Onwe claimed.
According to Onwe, those at the property did not assault the deceased but instead raised the alarm, contacted his lawyer and arranged for him to be taken to the hospital despite the flooding that prevented vehicles from entering the estate.
“They were the one that even called his lawyer. Because of the rain and the flooded environment, there was no way an Uber could come into the compound to pick the man up from the hospital,” he said.
Onwe dismissed allegations linking those who visited the property to the tenant’s death, insisting that anyone making such claims would have to substantiate them.
“Whoever is making any false allegations is going to prove it. It’s not just by making allegations that are unfounded. You must prove it,” he said.
When asked why a police officer accompanied those who visited the property if the tenant had agreed to vacate, Onwe said he was not directly involved in the operation and referred further inquiries to a colleague handling the matter.
When our correspondent reached out to Onwe’s colleague, Amadi Uche, he said he had no response since his colleague had already spoken on the matter.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Saturday, said she could not give an official comment on the matter as the complainant had refused to show up after reporting the matter.
The circumstances surrounding Pastor Olukotun’s death remain disputed.
While his family and lawyer allege that he died as a result of injuries sustained during a forceful eviction, the landlord’s solicitor maintains that no eviction or assault occurred and claims the deceased had already taken an unknown substance before officials arrived.
punch.ng
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