TonyRazor
Cleric rejects quit notice, demands N36m from landlord

A tenant with the Iyienu Mission Hospital, Ogidi, in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Reverend Ben Ubakaeze has rejected a quit notice issued to him by the facility's management.

He vowed not to vacate the premises until he was paid N36m by the management of the hospital as money expended in developing the facility over time.

The contentious facility, our correspondent gathered was a provision store/park which the cleric hired from the hospital's management and ran his business for years.

The Cleric said he had a 30- year lease agreement with the church which started running from 2014.

He said the N36m claim was for cleaning up the place and setting up structures for the business on the premises of the hospital as well as the profit he would have made from 2014 to 2044 if not ejected from facility.

He said,"I started business there in 2014 and they want me to quit without recouping what I spent in setting up the business there.

"If they must eject me from their facility, they will pay me the sum of N36m as expenses and what I would have made as gain, otherwise I will not leave the place."

"They also told me to give the space a befitting look as a park/ shop/ relaxation center, and I did by spending a lot on different types of carpet grass, I planted in and around the space after the refuse dump had been evacuated.

The lawyer for Iyi-Enu hospital management, Dr Emma Ezeugo, denied that the management entered into any agreement with Ubakaeze.

Ezeugo said the place was an already existing park before Ubakaeze was permitted to stay there.

He said it was impossible for a dump site to exist side by side with a hospital, adding that rather the place was already a beautified park and he was only directed to bring in a container to sell his goods.

"He was given six months quit notice which expired on January 31,2020 and seven days grace was also given to him to quit, but he refused, and we decide to drag him to court instead of using self help," the lawyer stated.