Ogun residents, firm clash over estate management, electricity charges

Residents of five estates in Shimawa, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State, have accused real estate firm, Adron Homes and Property Limited, of attempting to impose service charges, failing to provide land title documents and harassing property owners.

The residents, comprising landlords in the City of David, Cape Town, Golf, Treasure Park and Gardens Phase 1, and Downtown estates, made the allegations at a press briefing held at Cape Town Estate, Shimawa, on Monday.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, the Chairman of Cape Town Estate Landlord and Tenant Association, Olalekan Agboke, said the dispute centred on the proposed management arrangements for the estates.

Agboke alleged that Adron Homes had refused to recognise the residents’ registered associations and instead established its own body, AHPORA, which he said the company was compelling property owners to join.

He claimed that residents who refused to join the association had been threatened with the withholding of their title documents, as well as harassment and intimidation.

He said, “They have said that if we do not join this association, we will not get our title documents. They said if we want to get our title documents from them, we should first go and join this association they created, called AHPORA.

“Part of the issues we are having with them is the management of the estate. We, the residents of all these estates, have come together to let them know that we can work together in harmony with Adron Homes and Property to see to the management of the estate when it comes to maintaining the estate and taking care of our electricity within the estate.”

Agboke also alleged that some residents who acquired land in the estates as far back as 2015 and 2021 had yet to receive what he described as valid title documents.

He claimed that some documents issued by the company contained errors, including survey plans without plot and block numbers and deeds of assignment bearing conflicting plot numbers.

“The documents Adron Homes is giving us are invalid when we take them to government officials at the town planning office. For me, the land survey they gave me does not have a plot number and a block number on it, so it makes it invalid,” he said.

On electricity supply, the residents accused the company of preventing them from connecting directly to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, thereby retaining control over power distribution within the estates.

Agboke said residents had agreed to an increase in electricity tariffs from N220 to N278 per kilowatt-hour on the condition that the company signed a service-level agreement guaranteeing at least 21 hours of daily power supply.

He, however, alleged that the company implemented the increase without signing the agreement, while the electricity supply remained inadequate.

“We agreed to the tariff increase on the strict condition that a formal Service Level Agreement would be signed to guarantee at least 21 hours of daily power. Unfortunately, Adron implemented the tariff increase without signing the SLA,” he said.

Also speaking, a resident of Golf Estate, Ayo Kazeem, said the residents were not opposed to Adron Homes managing the estates but wanted transparent discussions on the cost and quality of the services to be provided.

“There is no big deal about managing the estate. What we are asking for is to interface with the existing estate association so that we can have good negotiation and a fair price, rather than having prices imposed on us,” he said.

He said residents also wanted the company to specify the services it would provide and sign an agreement outlining its obligations and the consequences of failing to meet them.

“Give us a fair price and articulate the services you are rendering, then let us sign an agreement. If you fail to render those services, what will be the consequence? Can we seek redress?” he asked.

Kazeem alleged that rather than engage the existing associations, the company established AHPORA and sought to compel residents to join it.

He also questioned the proposed association’s constitution, claiming that it was one-sided and that its trustees had been appointed by the company.

He said members of the Golf Estate executive committee had previously been arrested and taken to the Zone 2 Police Command before being transferred to a court in Sagamu.

“The whole of the executive committee in Golf Estate were arrested. They were taken to Zone 2 and from there moved to court in Sagamu. They slept in detention for one day and kept going to court,” he said.

Kazeem alleged that the case was eventually dismissed after Adron Homes failed to appear in court.

“Most of those executive committee members do not even have the courage to be here today. They are afraid because they have been brutalised, just like they did to a 70-year-old man,” he alleged.

He added that there was no agreement stating that Adron Homes would directly manage the estate when he purchased his property.

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Kazeem said a company identified as Firmshore managed the estate when he moved in, adding that residents wanted any proposed change in management to be based on mutual agreement.

A 70-year-old retired captain and resident of Downtown Estate, Joseph Owoyele, also told PUNCH Metro that the firm allegedly used the police to harass and intimidate residents who challenged its policies.

He said he was arrested by police officers who visited his home on October 27 while he was observing his morning devotion.

According to him, the allegation against him and other association members was that they were collecting fees illegally. He, however, insisted that the association was registered and operated transparently.

“From what we gathered, the allegation was that we were collecting fees illegally. Our association is registered. We have a bank account, and we don’t pay any money into individual accounts. We normally render accounts monthly,” he said.

Owoyele said the association had managed the estate for more than five years after Firmshore stopped working with the residents.

He added that residents subsequently took responsibility for security arrangements, including operating an access-control application, using walkie-talkies and providing security dogs for some property owners.

He alleged that on October 6, some persons chased away their security personnel, destroyed their access-control application and walkie-talkies, and disrupted their security arrangements.

Owoyele appealed to the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police to intervene and stop what he described as police harassment.

“The police harassment should stop. It’s a civil case, and the harassment should stop. I’m 70-plus. I wanted to come to an estate to rest, and now you’re using the police to be pulling me up and down,” he said.

Meanwhile, Agboke said the associations had petitioned the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission over the dispute.

He claimed that the commission directed Adron Homes to maintain the status quo pending its investigation but alleged that the company had failed to comply.

The residents called on the FCCPC to expedite its investigation and ensure that the company complied with any directive issued by the commission.

He continued, “Part of our demands is that Adron Homes should give all the residents who have bought land from them their respective authentic title documents on or before January ending 2027.

“These documents should come in the form of an authentic land survey and an authentic deed of assignment that does not have any form of error on it.

“We also demand to have direct interface with the Ogun State Government in respect of the payment of our various land use charges and other obligatory fees, because Adron Homes has decided to come up with a new policy, saying that it wants to be an intermediary between us and the Ogun State Government, which we did not sign up to when we bought the property, and such is not in any of our contracts.”

They also called for an end to what they described as police harassment, threats to restrict access to the estates and disconnection of utilities.

The coalition commended the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police for what it described as their intervention to stop attempts to restrict residents’ access to the estates and disconnect utilities.

It also appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene in the dispute, insisting that property owners should be treated as stakeholders rather than tenants.

“Having sold over 50 per cent of the estate land, Adron Homes must treat residents as true stakeholders and co-owners—not as tenants in their own homes,” Agboke said.

The coalition said it would return to the press when the company fulfilled its demands and peace was restored to the estates.

When contacted on Monday, the Executive Director, Public Affairs and International Relations of Adron Homes and Properties Limited, Oluwakemi Osude-Laniyan, requested that our correspondent send his enquiries via WhatsApp. She did not respond to the message.

When contacted again on Tuesday morning, she said she was awaiting a detailed response from the appropriate department.

She had yet to provide the response as of Tuesday night when this report was filed.