Return my property, landlord tells Lagos school owner

A landlord, Bennett Onyeise, has accused his tenant, Leonard Agbontaen, of refusing to vacate his property at 15, Olurunibe Aiyenoyo Crescent, in the Ejigbo area of Lagos State.

He made the accusation in a suit dated September 8, 2022, filed before Magistrate K.S. Abdulsalam, sitting at the Samuel Ilori Court, Ogba, Lagos.

Agbontaen was said to have rented Onyeise’s five-bedroom building for an annual rent value of N1m.

Onyeise, through his counsel, Jacinta Ogbedeleto, said he informed Agbontaen to vacate the facility because he wanted to use the building for personal use.

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The landlord said he sent two quit notices to the tenant on December 13, 2021, and August 1, 2022, where he declared his intention to repossess the building after seven days on the two occasions.

He alleged that Agbontaen refused to vacate the building, adding that he (Agbontaen) was still using the apartment after several months.

At the last adjourned date, the court asked Agbontaen’s counsel, Felix Unuabona, to file a response to the landlord’s complaint.

At the resumption of hearing on Monday, the lawyer informed the court that he had not filed the response because the defendant was robbed on the last adjourned date and had not had enough time to recover.

Reacting to the landlord’s vacation notices, Unuabona told the court that it was difficult for the defendant to vacate the building at the moment because he had just converted it to a school.

He noted that vacating the building without proper planning would affect the business of managing the school.

“The building is a new school and just trying to stabilise. It will affect the school’s operation if the defendant vacates the building now. We are asking for five months to vacate the apartment,” he added.

Unuabona said the defendant would meet the landlord to talk about settlement before the next adjourned date.

Magistrate Abdulsalam noted that the court would not open trial until the defence counsel filed a response to the charge against the defendant.

The case was adjourned till November 11 for trial.