Hon. Peter Suleiman, a Kogi-based estate manager, has decried the exorbitant rent charged by landlords in Lokoja, the state capital, without adding value to their properties.
Speaking with newsmen in Lokoja on Monday, Suleiman accused Lokoja-based landlords of inordinate desire to have suspected advance fee fraudsters (Yahoo Boys) as tenants, instead of people engaged in genuine businesses.
Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer, Good Trust Estate Management Limited, expressed worries that the current development is encouraging crime in Kogi state.
He appealed to the state government to urgently check the excesses of the landlords as their continued exploitation of genuine citizens will spell doom for the state.
“It is quite unfortunate that landlords in Lokoja and it environs prefer to give their houses to yahoo boys instead of law abiding citizens.
“Just recently, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) apprehended some yahoo boys in Lokoja. Since they now know that staying in an hotel will expose their nefarious activities, they now prefer renting houses.
“When they approach this landlords, they can pay for a single or room and parlour self contain for two or more years at a high amount. Can you imagine, if you approach these landlords for house, they will open up to you that if you are not a yahoo boy, they won’t give you their house, because they are not sure if you can pay the next rent. Also, they will insist that you pay for two years.
“The essence of them insisting on Yahoo boys is that they know these guys will not stay fully in the house before exiting. What is now the hope of the common man who is doing genuine business on the street? This is promoting cyber fraud. Everybody can not do cyber fraud or yahoo yahoo as they all call it.
“The Kogi State Government should as a matter of urgency come up with a policy to checkmate the excesses of this house owners in Lokoja, and other part of Kogi State before all our children, including our young generation see advance fee fraud as the best line of making money.” he said.
Suleiman, however, lamented on the prevalence of fake house agents operating in the state.
“This fake house agents masquerading around are the people deceiving these landlords by bringing Yahoo boys who will pay heavily for house rent. Kogi State is a civil servant state and does not deserve this level of exploitations amidst this harsh economy. Recently, I was managing one house, the landlord called me that he has jacked up his rent from N150, 000 to N600,000.
” I now asked, what are the modalities for this sudden increase when there is no new renovation in the house? He told me openly that, in the next compound, an agent brought some boys that paid N700,000 for house rent, and I expected him to still remain with the old price.
“This is barbaric, satanic and should be stopped. If not urgently addressed, Kogi State will be snowballing into a hub of cyber fraud simply because of the mindset of this landlord who want to en-mass quick wealth for themselves without considering the implications,” he stated.
