Tenants numbering hundreds at Obidianso waterfront in Oroworukwo community, Port Harcourt, in Rivers State capital, were on Thursday rendered homeless after their houses, which was put at over 100, were demolished by the owners of the land.
Sources said that the Orusa family, owners of Obidianso waterfront, had in May 2018, obtained a judgement from the state magistrates’ court directing them to recover their land after the tenants refused to pay rents.
The landlords on Monday, May 16, 2018 decided to enforce the court directive by giving the tenants four days notice to vacate the land. The notice elapsed on Thursday, May 19, 2018.
A member of the Orusa family who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tenants flouted the rules by subletting the houses and collecting rents without remitting same to them.
“They stopped paying their rents to us and when we approached them, they took us to court, claiming that the land belongs to them. We won them in court; we called them again to come so that we can have an agreement and live together in peace, but they refused. We then decided to evict them from our land.”
According to some of the tenants, they said they were caught unawares by those who came to demolish their homes.
One of the tenants, Okon Sunday, said: “It was the sound of the bulldozer that woke me and my family from sleep. We are still surprised because we could not even carry all our belongings. Now, we are planning to take our things to our church until when we are able to rent another place.”
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