MICHAEL AKINOLA
A 50-year old estate agent, Lati Oladele, has been arrested and charged in Lagos State for allegedly throwing out a landlady’s property from her apartment, renting it out to a tenant and converting the money to his own use.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at Olawoyin Street, Mushin area of Lagos.
The landlady, Mrs. Hadiat Abimbola, is now stranded and has been squatting elsewhere because the tenant, who took up the apartment refused to leave having insisted that he rented the apartment from the agent, Oladele.
Trouble started for the landlady after she traveled to an African country two years ago and Oladele, who knew that she traveled out, thought she will not come back alive and decided to rent out her apartment to the tenant.
The agent, Oladele, was said to have broken into the landlady’s apartment, carried out all her properties including chairs, boxes containing her clothes, fans, power generating set among other items worth N2m and rented out the place to the tenant.
When Mrs. Abimbola eventually returned this year and went to her apartment as there are other tenants occupying other apartments, she discovered that a tenant was living inside her own apartment and all her properties had been thrown out.
When she contacted the new tenant, he presented his receipt and mentioned that Oladele was the person that rented out the place to him.
The matter was reported to the Police at Aswani Division. Oladele was eventually arrested and detained at the station for interrogation over his alleged conduct.
While being interrogated, he reportedly admitted to have rented out the place because he thought the landlady will not come back from where she traveled to. And he broke the apartment, brought her properties outside and rented out the place to the tenant.
The Police found him culpable and consequently charged him before the Isolo Magistrate Court for burglary and stealing, which attracts several years of imprisonment.
However, he pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned.
The prosecutor, Supol Oje Uagbale, then asked the Court to give a date for hearing since he pleaded not guilty to enable the Police to prove that he actually committed the alleged offence.
The Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Akokhia, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, who must show evidence of means of livelihood and addresses verified by the Court.
The matter was adjourned till 22nd February, 2024, for mention while the defendant was remanded in custody at the correctional center at Kirikiri town, Lagos, pending when he will perfect his bail conditions.