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A landlord has attacked a Christ Embassy church for defaulting on the payment of electricity bills and causing damage.
Mr. Godspower Ogbokri, the landlord of a building on Ogbokri Estate, Okerugbe Town, Ikotun, Lagos State, is at loggerheads with a parish of the Christ Embassy Church over alleged six-month rent arrears estimated at N400,000.
According to Punch Metro, Ogbokri, 61, also accused the church of owing electricity bill of N113,267 and damaging the gate to the building before it was vacated on February 24, 2017.
Punch Metro reports that the a pastor in charge of the church, Pastor Daniel Madojemu, had rented the property in August 2006 on an annual rent of N800,000.
It was gathered that all was well between the church and the landlord until in 2012 when the premises became unkempt.
The landlord revealed that he called the attention of the pastor to the filth and damage on several occasions without any result.
He explained that he send a letter dated May 26, 2016, to his lawyer lawyer, Adepoju Ajala, instructing him to eject the church.
The letter read in part, “I wish to instruct you that you should go ahead to give required notice to quit to one of my tenants, Christ Embassy church, Abaranje 1.”
He also wrote to the pastor though the lawyer, lamenting the poor state of the property.
The letter read in part, “You have successfully damaged the main gate of the property for some time now without taking steps to repair same.
You have also removed the front entrance door of the property, showing lackadaisical attitude towards same.
“You are always dumping and burning refuse on the top of the soakaway without minding the consequence of your action to the property; you have refused to patronise LAWMA, PSP as specified by the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Law.”
Ogbokri stated that the church exceeded the six-month notice given to it, adding that the pastor did not pay the N400,000 rent he owed before he left the property.
“Apart from the rent, the church did not pay electricity bills amounting to N113,267. When mediatory efforts to get the pastor to pay the money failed, I took the church to court. A hearing notice was served on the pastor, but he has refused to show up,” he added.
When the matter was called again for hearing at the Ogba Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, July 4, the pastor was absent. The case was presided over by a magistrate, Mrs. O.J. Awope.
However, the pastor, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, denied damaging the property, adding that he was not aware that the matter was in court.
He said although he was not owing up to N400,000 in arrears, he was ready to pay the sum to let peace reign.
He said, “I didn’t get any letter from court. It was a lawyer who he hired that I know. He gave me about two months to make the payment. I never damaged any property. He does not need this. The church never used public electricity; we have a generator.
“When the electricity firm brought a very high bill, we disconnected the church from public electricity. It was last year (2016) that the landlord brought up the electricity issue.
“I dug the soakaway in the place; I put the water system there and did the wiring. I am not a troublesome person. I am an ordained Christ Embassy’s pastor.
“Even if the landlord says the money is N1m, I will pay, but there is a God in heaven. I will give him the money. He should let the church be.”
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