Residents and Adron Homes at loggerheads over estate issues

Residents of five estates in Shimawa, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State, are accusing Adron Homes and Property Limited of trying to impose service charges, not providing land title documents, and harassing property owners.

The affected residents include landlords from the City of David, Cape Town, Golf, Treasure Park and Gardens Phase 1, and Downtown estates. They made these claims during a press briefing at Cape Town Estate, Shimawa, on Monday.

Olalekan Agboke, who is the Chairman of Cape Town Estate Landlord and Tenant Association, spoke for the residents. He said the main issue is about the management plans for the estates.

Agboke claimed that Adron Homes does not recognize the residents' registered associations. Instead, he said the company created its own group called AHPORA, which it is forcing property owners to join.

He alleged that residents who refuse to join AHPORA have faced threats, including being told they would not receive their title documents and facing harassment.

He said, “They have said that if we do not join this association, we will not get our title documents. They said if we want to get our title documents from them, we should first go and join this association they created, called AHPORA.

“Part of the issues we are having with them is the management of the estate. We, the residents of all these estates, have come together to let them know that we can work together in harmony with Adron Homes and Property to see to the management of the estate when it comes to maintaining the estate and taking care of our electricity within the estate.”

Agboke also mentioned that some residents who bought land in the estates in 2015 and 2021 are still waiting for valid title documents.

He claimed that some of the documents given by the company have mistakes. For example, some survey plans lack plot and block numbers. He also mentioned that deeds of assignment have conflicting plot numbers.

“The documents Adron Homes is giving us are invalid when we take them to government officials at the town planning office. For me, the land survey they gave me does not have a plot number and a block number on it, so it makes it invalid,” he said.

The residents also accused the company of stopping them from connecting directly to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company. This means the company keeps control over electricity supply in the estates.

Agboke said residents agreed to raise electricity tariffs from N220 to N278 per kilowatt-hour, but only if the company signed a service-level agreement to ensure at least 21 hours of daily power supply.

He claimed that the company raised the tariffs without signing the agreement, and the power supply still isn't enough.

“We agreed to the tariff increase on the strict condition that a formal Service Level Agreement would be signed to guarantee at least 21 hours of daily power. Unfortunately, Adron implemented the tariff increase without signing the SLA,” he said.

Ayo Kazeem, a resident of Golf Estate, said the residents are not against Adron Homes managing the estates. They just want open discussions about the costs and quality of the services.

“There is no big deal about managing the estate. What we are asking for is to interface with the existing estate association so that we can have good negotiation and a fair price, rather than having prices imposed on us,” he said.

Kazeem added that they want the company to clearly outline the services it will provide and sign an agreement that details its responsibilities and what happens if it fails to meet them.

“Give us a fair price and articulate the services you are rendering, then let us sign an agreement. If you fail to render those services, what will be the consequence? Can we seek redress?” he asked.

He also accused the company of ignoring the current associations and forcing residents to join AHPORA. Kazeem questioned the constitution of the new association, saying it is unfair and that the company's trustees were appointed by the firm.

He mentioned that members of the Golf Estate executive committee were arrested and taken to the Zone 2 Police Command before being brought to court in Sagamu.

“The whole of the executive committee in Golf Estate were arrested. They were taken to Zone 2 and from there moved to court in Sagamu. They slept in detention for one day and kept going to court,” he said.

Kazeem added that the case was dismissed after Adron Homes did not show up in court. He said some executive committee members are afraid to speak out now due to past harassment from the company.

A 70-year-old retired captain, Joseph Owoyele, who lives in Downtown Estate, said the firm allegedly uses police to intimidate residents who question its actions. He shared that he was arrested on October 27 while praying at home.

He said the accusation against him and other association members was that they were collecting fees illegally, but he insisted their association is registered and operates openly.

“From what we gathered, the allegation was that we were collecting fees illegally. Our association is registered. We have a bank account, and we don’t pay any money into individual accounts. We normally render accounts monthly,” he said.

Owoyele noted that the association has managed the estate for over five years after Firmshore stopped working with them. He added that the residents took charge of security, including using an access-control app and providing security dogs.

He alleged that on October 6, some people attacked their security staff, destroyed their equipment, and disrupted their security systems.

Owoyele asked the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police to step in and end what he called police harassment.

“The police harassment should stop. It’s a civil case, and the harassment should stop. I’m 70-plus. I wanted to come to an estate to rest, and now you’re using the police to be pulling me up and down,” he said.

Agboke stated that the associations have petitioned the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission about the issues. He claimed the commission told Adron Homes to keep things as they are until it investigates, but the company has not complied.

The residents are urging the FCCPC to speed up its investigation and make sure Adron Homes follows any orders given to it.

He continued, “Part of our demands is that Adron Homes should give all the residents who have bought land from them their respective authentic title documents on or before January ending 2027.

“These documents should come in the form of an authentic land survey and an authentic deed of assignment that does not have any form of error on it.

“We also demand to have direct interface with the Ogun State Government in respect of the payment of our various land use charges and other obligatory fees. Adron Homes has decided to come up with a new policy, saying that it wants to be an intermediary between us and the Ogun State Government, which we did not sign up to when we bought the property, and such is not in any of our contracts.”

They also want an end to what they call police harassment, threats to limit access to the estates, and disconnections of services.

The group praised the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police for their role in stopping attempts to restrict residents' access and disconnect utilities.

They also asked Governor Dapo Abiodun to step in and help resolve the dispute, insisting that property owners should be seen as stakeholders, not tenants.

“Having sold over 50 percent of the estate land, Adron Homes must treat residents as true stakeholders and co-owners, not as tenants in their own homes,” Agboke said.

The group plans to return to the press once their demands are met and peace returns to the estates.

When contacted on Monday, Oluwakemi Osude-Laniyan, the Executive Director of Public Affairs and International Relations of Adron Homes and Properties Limited, asked the reporter to send questions via WhatsApp. She did not respond to the message.

On Tuesday morning, she said she was waiting for a detailed reply from the right department. She had not given a response as of Tuesday night when this report was completed.