By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Tenants occupying a church building where they sell their wares along the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Road have cried out over alleged forceful ejection from the property.

The shop owners who were startled by the unexpected incident which happened on Thursday said they arrived for the day’s business only to meet stern-looking policemen and court officials carrying out an eviction order championed by the Catholic Diocese of Awka.

It was gathered that the operation resulted in the destruction of goods estimated at over N15 million.

The tenants, who operated legitimate businesses in rented shops along Secretariat Road claim they have suffered huge losses exceeding N15 million due to the sudden eviction carried out following a Magistrate Court judgment without any prior warning.

According to the tenants, the Catholic Diocese used court order from the Magistrate Court to break into their shops without any prior notice.

According to tenants, the security operatives and court bailiffs in the process presented a court judgment declaring that the initial landlord of the building was not the rightful owner.

Based on this ruling, security operatives forcefully opened their shops which were exposed to heavy rain, throwing out goods that were subsequently damaged.

It was however gathered that the disputed property was originally constructed by a deceased Rev. Father, who allegedly handed it over to his nephew, who the tenants knew and addressed as their landlord prior to the court ruling.

However, after the Rev Father’s demise, the Awka Catholic Diocese filed a suit claiming ownership of the building, stating that it belonged to the church rather than an individual.

The court ultimately ruled in favour of the church, affirming its ownership over the nephew.

A human rights activist and convener of the Recover Nigeria Project, Comrade Osita Obi, who was affected by the incident stated that he was unaware of any ownership dispute concerning the building.

He said: "Even If the court ruled against the former landlord, the tenants should have received prior notice to enable them to remove their property safely.

“Instead, the church broke into our shops on Thursday without warning, destroying goods worth millions of Naira.

“We have no issue with who owns the property; our concern is that we were not informed or given notice about the pending court matter. Our former landlord never informed us about the dispute,”

“This is my wife’s shop. She is out of town, and I had gone for physiotherapy when I received a call that security operatives were breaking into her shop. That is how I came here.”

Obi explained that had the church notified them at least two days in advance, they could have evacuated their goods, allowing the judgment to be executed without unnecessary losses.

He further revealed that he personally lost over N5 million, even as he recalled that his co-tenants paid rent a month prior and invested in shop renovations and perishable goods suffered estimated losses exceeding N9 million.

The Rights Lawyer added: “We are at a loss about what to do next. We demand justice. I have petitioned the Awka Area Commander, who has invited me to his office. We will pursue this matter to its conclusion.”