The disagreement between an Onitsha businessman, Mr Benjamin Ubakeze, and the management of Iyienu Mission Hospital, now University on the Niger Teaching Hospital, Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has taken a new dimension, as the management of the hospital attempted to drop a constructed container in front of Ubakeze’s business premises, in an attempt to allegedly block Ubakeze’s business premises.
Addressing journalists in Onitsha on Tuesday, Ubakeze and his wife, Felicia, alleged that the hospital deliberately brought the constructed metal shop, popularly called “container” to “maliciously” block the entrance of their shop.
He said he was permitted through due process by the former administrator of the hospital, Rev. Cannon John Amizu, now retired to develop the park, which used to be a dumping ground by the contractor, who handled the Old Nkpor Awka Enugu road project.
He added that he and his wife sold their shops at Textile Market, Niger Bridge Head, Onitsha, and Oyeolisa Market, Ogbunike, to raise money to clear the dump site and develop the said portion of land into a relaxation park, only to be served a quit notice by the new administrator of the hospital, who succeeded Rev. Canon Amizu, less than one year he parked into the shop he built to service the relaxation park.
Ubakeze, who is an evangelist in the Diocese of the Niger, Anglican Communion, said he was the Evangelical Director, Prayer Team Leader, and Hospital Visitation Team Leader in the Chapel of Divine Compassion, the Anglican Church, in the premises of the hospital, before the disagreement with the management.
He said, “My wife who was an international businesswoman and I developed this park with over N50 million, to make it what it is today, but we are asking the hospital management through the court to pay us just N36 million, as we stated in the court. They dragged us to court when they tried without success to eject us through the back doors.
“The N36 million we are asking them to pay us through the court is for the expenses that were documented, from what we spent to develop the park. I believe we were serving God, we never knew that one day, they would come up with the idea of forceful ejection without allowing us to recoup what we spent developing this place.
We are still in the court, we even went to court last Tuesday, we were surprised on Wednesday, a Venerable in the Diocese on the Niger, led a group of people with a constructed metal trading container and ordered them to drop it at the entrance of our shop, that services the relaxation park.
All efforts to know the reason for such action through questions I asked him were rebuffed, he didn’t answer any question I threw to him, they were only asking the boys to drop the container, but we prevented them, the boys wounded me and manhandled my wife.
We told them that they should wait for the court to decide on the matter. They should not use self-help and take laws into their own hands. The church should show a good example by obeying the law.
“We did not buy this place, they allocated the space to us and we developed and beautified it and built the shop according to their specification. We started paying rent from N18,000 to N60,000 for the space. We have been paying them even as the matter is still in the court. We have paid for 2023. In a f ew days now we will pay for 2024.
If they want to throw us out, they should refund us the money we spent, that is all we are demanding in the court they took us to. If they give us the N36 million today, we will leave the premises today. Is not our land, they allocated the space to us and we built everything you people are seeing here in the park.”
However, when contacted, a senior member of the church, who craved anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak on the issue, said, “We went to drop the container as the owners of the property and the man prevented us. It was then he said that we should not quit him.”
