WARRI- Delta State High Court sitting in Otor-Udu in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State on Tuesday January 30 slammed a landlady,Mrs. Gloria Oriako and the Nigeria Police Force with the sum of five hundred thousand naira for unlawful arrests and detention of a tenant,Mr. Francis Doye over his failure to pay his rent.
The Court presided over by Hon. Justice F.N. Azinge(Mrs.) in her ruling today also granted an order for perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from further arrests and detention of the tenant, Mr. Francis Doye.
We gathered that the matter was between Mr. Francis Doye against Madam Oriako and the Divisional Police Officer, DPO of Orerokpe and Commissioner of Police, Asaba as respondents.
Barr.Omemiroro Ogedegbe, counsel to the plaintiff, claimed that his client was on February 2017 in arrears of rent to the landlady who summoned his client,Francis Doye before the community executive wherein he was made to pay five thousand naira only and a bottle of Gordon Gin as summon fee before he was given seven days ultimatum within which to liquidate the debt.
He further claimed that upon the indebtedness of his client again to the said Mrs. Oriako, he was by an invitation summoned to appear before the community leadership and was as usual mandated to appear with the usual summon fee which was not handy at that material time hence stressing that he did not appear but pleaded with the said Mrs. Oriako to exercise patience as the sum of thirty thousand naira only was paid two days before the letter was served on him.
He stated that Mrs. Oriako stormed the house of his client with three persons whom she claimed are community executive on the 30th of September 2017, being environmental sanitation Saturday at about 8am and invited Francis Doye to the house of the Unuevworo (Duke) of the Community where he was subjected to the highest degree of brutality upon his inability to pay the outstanding rent upon demand from the community executive.
According to the plaintiff’s counsel “He was beaten almost to a state of coma and upon realizing our client was about passing out, they legitimized by inviting police officers of Ughoton police post and came to the Unuevworo’s house and placed him in handcuff and supervised the beating of our client and when he was eventually taken to the Ughoton police station, the D.O. in his wisdom who saw the way our client was bleeding declined jurisdiction as it was a matter which was tenancy in nature only for Mrs. Oriako to have again mobilized the same group of police officers and dragged our client to Orerokpe Police Station where he was detained till Sunday 1st October 2017.”
But after the judgement which was delivered today,Barr. Omemiroro Ogedegbe in a statement claimed that his client, Francis Doye who was resident at a building owned by Mrs. Gloria Oriako in Jeddo Community in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State was in arrears of rent for three months being July,August and September 2017.
In a statement entitled,”In the matter of aggravated assaults occasioned by Jeddo Community youths on Mr. Francis Doye under the supervision of Police Officers of Ughoton Police Post at the behest of Mrs. Gloria Oriako” the lawyer claimed that whenever his client and other tenants are indebted to the Madam Oriako, she was in the habit of using community leadership in harassing them over rent matters.
The vibrant lawyer also claimed that his client was in February 2017 in arrears of rent to the landlady who summoned his client,Francis Doye before the community executive wherein he was made to pay five thousand naira only and a bottle of Gordon Gin as summon fee before he was given seven days ultimatum within which to liquidate the debt.
