Traders in Lagos under the aegis of the Coalition of Registered Traders Association in Balogun, Oke-Arin and Ebutte Ero,(CORTABOEL), at the weekend staged a peaceful protest against the outrageous rent imposed on them by Landlords and property developers in the area, calling on the Lagos State Government to intervene in accordance with the recent tenancy bill passed by the State House of Assembly.The traders from different market union revealed how the developers ruthlessly make them pay outrageous rent under the guise of renovating buildings that are still in good shape in other to get more money from them through increased annual rents, agency and agreement fees among others.In a communique signed by Mr. Chinedu Abodike, the Coordinator of the group, said that they are not against any form of renovation or face lifting of any property in Balogun Market or anywhere in the Lagos State going by the government's position on incessant collapse of buildings but submit that such exercise must have a human face and not meant to exploit the traders as they are experiencing now.The statement reads in part: 'We have been watching and observing with utter shock, dismay and surprise at the height of inhuman treatment and conditions, harrassment, injustice, cruelty, oppression, intimidation and ejections that our members are going through and are subjected to in the hands of developers and landlords in our business environment on Lagos Island. They hide under the guise of Governor Fashola's directive that every old and weak property be reinforced and face lift to unleash untold hardship and wickedness on us.'We thought that with the new Lagos State Tenancy law in place, this injustice will come to an end and law and reason will prevail. How wrong and naive we are. Each individual association have engaged these developers and landlords in one way or the other but to no avail. They are adamant and resolute insisting on collecting outrageous amount in addition to minimum of three years in advance with agency and agreement fees for sitting tenants. In some other cases, our members were cruelly, crudely and wickedly ejected or locked out by these developers with brutal force even when some of our rent/tenancy still subsists'.On what they want from their developers, landlords and the Lagos State government, Abodike said: 'We are law abiding citizens and associations with name CORTABOEL. We have stepped into this matter and maintain that henceforth, any form of negotiations, dialogue, discussions and or agreements be done through us and no longer individual members. We are not against any form of renovation or face lifting of any property in Balogun market or anywhere in Lagos State but going by the Lagos State government position on incessant and rampant collapse of building in the state.'We and our members are not against any form of rent increment as long as it is reasonable, agreeable, and done with human face. We are also not against anyone making profit on investment, however, such profit making should not be outrageous, instantaneous or be seen as shy-lock, rather it must be a gradual and marginal profit making and investment recouping over a period of time. Our members have suffered untoward hardship, humiliation, injustice, loss, deprivation and ejection for too long a time' The group added that they are against any sitting tenant paying agency and agreement fee because some renovations or face-lifting was carried out and insists on going by the new Lagos State tenancy law to pay not more than one year advance rent for new apartments and six months for a subsisting one.Another twist added by the developers as revealed by the traders union was the constant change in developers status just to exploit the tenants. Abodike captured it in this way, : 'We have also observed that in other to achieve some of these questionable and unbecoming attitude and approach towards rent, some of these agents/ developers claim that they are no longer the agent or developer in other to charge agreement and agency fees on sitting tenants.'.Other prayers made by the traders include ; 'We shall not hesitate to instruct our members not to take up any shops, warehouse, warehouse, office of any ejected member, which will render the place unoccupied. We also condemn in its entirety without fear, the brutal, forceful and unlawful ejection of the occupant at No. 6 Benjamin Lane on Friday 23rd September, 2011. We maintain that unless he is restored back to his shop, no member of our various associations will take up the shop.'We are also alarmed that up to 30 days now, some of our members shops at No.17 Bankole street were barricaded on the excuse of renovation which appears to be very slow and sluggish'.Some of the members spoke with Nigerian Compass. Mr. Monday Nnamani, said that the developers and the landlords in the area are unnecessarily greedy and as such , they are being exploited . His words 'Shylock developers are after us. They are exploiting us. Why would a subsisting tenant be allowed to pay another agreement and agency fees' We are also asked to be paying between three to five years rent in advance. Is that not wickedness''Mr. Malachi Okechukwu, expressed happiness that they now have a vibrant union unlike before. He complained about the intimidation and the new idea of feigning to renovate a building that needs no renovation among others. Mr. Odikpo Chukwudi, another trader said : 'The landlords and developers are ruthless. They throw us out at every opportunity. They will tell you they want to renovate whereas its not true. Besides this,they demand for three and four years rent. It is very outrageous'With the tenancy bill signed by Fashola, Landlords in Lagos State would by law not able to demand excess rent allowance from their tenants.The bill, which was forwarded to the state governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, for assent states that, it would become unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive from a sitting tenant rent in excess of six months for a monthly tenant in respect of any premises without prejudice to the nature of tenancy.The bill also indicated that it would be illegal for any landlord to receive more than a year's rent from a new tenant and that any landlord that did otherwise would pay a fine of N100,000 or be sentenced to three years imprisonment. It would also be unlawful for a new tenant to offer to pay more than a year's rent.The bill which passed through the third reading was subsequently passed into law and forwarded to the state governor for assent.The bill further indicated the rights of parties to a tenancy agreement, and that the tenant was entitled to a quiet and peaceful environment which included privacy, freedom from unreasonable disturbance, noise pollution and nuisance as well as exclusive possession of the premises, subject to the landlord's restricted right of inspection.The bill consists of 47 sections including jurisdiction of the courts, obligations of the tenant, obligations of the landlord, length of notice, services of notice among others.
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