*Lagos, Ogun Havens For Fake Developers, Land Grabbers-Victims
For Shylock and greedy real estate developers and owners, time is ticking fast to the end of their dubious activities that have denied unsuspecting prospective home owners their life savings that have gone down the drain, in the name of purchasing plots of land, that are either non existence or subject of litigation.
Investigations by metrobusinessnews.com, (MBN) show that the disgruntled and intimidated victims have realised the good disposition of the present administration at ensuring home ownership by determined and serious Nigerians as well as encouraging decent living.
MBN investigations further revealed that Lagos and Ogun are the two major states where these miscreants operate and, in most cases, the estates are either under court litigation, while construction activities are either going on, or the estates are being discretely sold to unsuspecting buyers
But, cuttent unsavory development with one of the most outstanding homes and Property developers, Adron Homes and Properties Limited, may have rekindled their hope and are exploring ways of exposing some developers that have sold, one plot of land, for instance, to more than three to four persons, while making access to the estate or part of it impossible due to lack of infrastructure.
Some of the developers collected money from their customers for over five years without the property nor the refunds.
Specifically, Adron Homes and Properties Limited has refunded N525,000 to Patience Yusuff, a Lagos resident, less than 24 hours after FIJ published a report detailing the company’s failure to refund her money.
Yusuff paid N750,000 to the real estate company in September 2020 for a plot of land in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, but she did not get to see the location of the plot she paid for. She waited five years for the plot or a refund.
After deducting a 30 per cent surcharge from the total amount, Adron Homes sent Yusuff the balance of N525,000 on Wednesday afternoon.
This was after the published story that tye company failed to Process the women’s N700,000 Refund After 5 Years of Failed Promises
When Yusuff made the payment back then in 2020, she never knew she was in for a long, turbulent ride with the real estate company. She had been told to expect communication the moment land allocation began.
But she would wait for four long years without a word from Adron Homes. So, she took the initiative in 2024 to reach out to the company to know when she would get the land she paid for.
Payment receipt.
The company told her there was still no allocation. But they gave her two options, which include either adding at least N250,000 to the previous amount to get an allocation in another available location or selling the land.
Yusuff chose the latter when they told her she could sell the plot she bought in 2020 for N3 million. The real estate company told her she had to look for a buyer. When Adron Homes told her that she would have to look for a buyer, she confronted them and asked, “Which land will I show them?”
That was when the company offered to look for a buyer. After waiting in vain for the company to get someone to buy the said land, Yusuff changed her mind about selling and demanded a refund instead.
The company promised to refund only 70 per cent of her initial payment, and it would only arrive after 90 days. Yusuff filled out a refund form on November 14 and waited for her money. However, more than 90 days later, she got nothing except messages claiming her request was still being processed.
On Tuesday, FIJ published a report on the failed promises and delayed refund. Adron Homes called her before 8 am on Wednesday, asking her to come to the Magodo branch for her cheque.
Apart from the fact that her surname was wrongly spelt on the cheque, Yusuff noticed that the date showed January 27, 2025.
The cheque
“This probably means they have had it since January. I asked them why it took this long. I told them to change the name or cancel and sign on it, but they said the person who would sign it was out of the office,” Yusuff recalled.
READ ALSO:Night Of Horror At Arepo Places Moral Burden On OGSG
“But they asked for my account number. They said once the person returns, they will sign it and deposit the money in my account.”
Yusuff received a credit alert of N525,000 before noon.
The credit alert.
“Thank you so much. I would not have gotten this money out after all this while without you,” she told FIJ while confirming the refund.
One of the victims, with similar experience told MBN that the development serves as an eye opener as they are heading to court as well as exposing the estate owners who have been holding on to their money without providing the land.
Also, a bitter victim at Arepo, in Ogun state, told MBN that the satellite towns are safe havens for the estate owners/developers and land grabbers, who have been having unhindered operations at the expemse of the public.
While acknowledging that efforts are being made in Lagos state, he confessed that in Ogun, on the other hand, both the state and local governments seem not bothered about the plight of the people.
This is with a particular reference to an estate that is subject to court litigation, but the feuding parties, developers and ‘original owners ‘ are still fighting over it, threatening the peaceful existence of some of the residents.
Accordingro one of them, “What happened to Adron homes is an eye opener to some of us living in troubled estates. For some of us living at the Ogun satellite towns, we are on our own, either for deteriorating environmental condition or pollution that is making nights, in particular, unbearable for the surrounding residents due to activities of some companies, operating, but are environmentally unfriendly. ”
“We will not continue to die in silence as the time has come for us to make our feelings known to the government . Governance, is not just about, just demanding for tax in states of residence, but that we should be able to feel the positive impact of both the state and local governments, in the area of provision of infrastructure. For, a local government, like Obafemi Owode, in Ogun state, for instance, showing presence only at marking ‘illegal buildings’ only to be silent, after a while, leaves much to be desired of a responsible and responsive government,” says another resident.
