Published 6th Apr, 2022

By Precious Ewuji

Jubril Abdulsalam, a Lagos-based travel agent has narrated how Prosper Chukwuemeka, a real estate agent, collected N450,000 rent for an apartment and failed to lease it.

Jubril told FIJ he contacted Chukwuemeka to enquire about the apartment in December 2021 after seeing his contact on a banner advertising an apartment in Festac, Lagos State.

“Chukwuemeka told me to go to the house. He said his assistant was there to show me the house. When I got there, I saw a mini flat and policemen uniforms inside the house. Chukwuemeka told me that policemen were squatting in the house. This made me feel relaxed that I was safe,” he said.

“When I figured that the building was incomplete, I told Chukwuemeka and he told me to make a payment first. That was in early December. He told me I would move into the house by January after making the payment.”

When Jubril asked to see Chukwuemeka before making a payment, he was asked to come to a hotel in Lagos. Jubril told FIJ that he made a transfer of N200,000, out of N450,000, into Chukwuemeka’s account at the hotel and told him he would send the balance the following day.

*Receipt of the first payment made by Jubril*

Jubril said Chukwuemeka started ignoring his calls after paying a balance of N250,000.

“When I called him on December 11 to request the house keys and make other agreements, he told me his lawyer had gone for Christmas holidays. I asked why the lawyer would go for Christmas holidays when it was not even Christmas yet. He said nothing. He didn’t reply to the WhatsApp messages I sent to him too,” said Jubril.

“I called again after some weeks to request for the keys. I even asked if I should visit his assistant for the keys. Surprisingly, he asked me if I wanted to steal the house.”

Jubril said he got different negative responses when he tried to make enquiries about Chukwuemeka from his neighbours, as most of them called him a thief. He also learned that policemen were aiding Chukwuemeka.

“All my efforts to reach him since that time never yielded a result. As the police wouldn’t help, I reported the case to the EFCC in Ikoyi that same December, but there has been no action till date. I was later informed the amount is too small, and they can’t work on it,” he explained.

When FIJ contacted Chukwuemeka, he said Jubril was to pay N3.5 million for seven years before he would be given the key.

However, Jubril told FIJ that Chukwuemeka did not mention a payment of N3.5 million to him before getting payments.

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