Residents and Adron Homes at Odds Over Estate Issues

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

The residents, who live in City of David, Cape Town, Golf, Treasure Park and Gardens Phase 1, and Downtown estates, shared their concerns at a press briefing held at Cape Town Estate, Shimawa, on Monday.

Olalekan Agboke, the Chairman of Cape Town Estate Landlord and Tenant Association, spoke for the residents. He said the issues are mainly about the proposed management plans for the estates.

Agboke claimed that Adron Homes has ignored the residents’ registered associations. Instead, the company set up its own group, AHPORA, and is pressuring property owners to join it.

He said that those who refuse to join face threats of having their title documents withheld, along with harassment and intimidation. He stated, "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."

Agboke added, "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."

He also mentioned that some residents who bought land in the estates as far back as 2015 and 2021 have not received valid title documents. He noted that some documents issued by the company had mistakes, like survey plans missing plot and block numbers and deeds of assignment with wrong 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.

On the issue of electricity, residents accused the company of blocking them from connecting directly to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company. This means the firm keeps control over power distribution in the estates.

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

He claimed the company raised the tariff without signing the agreement while power supply remained poor. "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.

Another resident from Golf Estate, Ayo Kazeem, said they have no problem with Adron Homes managing the estates but want clear discussions on the cost and quality of 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 they want the company to clearly state the services it will provide and sign an agreement that outlines its responsibilities and penalties for failing to meet them. He questioned the AHPORA association's constitution, saying it was unfair and that the company's trustees were appointed by the firm.

He also 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 alleged the case was eventually dismissed after Adron Homes did not show up in court. "Most of those executive committee members do not even have the courage to be here today. They are afraid because they have been brutalised, just like they did to a 70-year-old man," he said.

Joseph Owoyele, a 70-year-old retired captain living in Downtown Estate, also told PUNCH Metro that the firm used police to intimidate residents who challenged its rules. He said officers arrested him on October 27 while he was praying at home.

According to him, the charge was that he and other association members were collecting fees illegally. He insisted that their association was 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 said the association has managed the estate for over five years since Firmshore stopped working with them. He added that residents took charge of their security arrangements, including using a special app and providing security dogs.

He alleged that on October 6, some people chased away their security personnel, destroyed their access-control app and walkie-talkies, and disrupted their security. Owoyele asked the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police to step in and stop 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 mentioned that the associations have written to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission about the conflict. He claimed that the commission told Adron Homes to keep things as they are while they investigate but said the company has not followed that order.

The residents want the FCCPC to speed up its investigation and ensure the company follows any directives. He said, "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."

He added that these documents should be valid land surveys and deeds of assignment without mistakes. "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, because 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 police harassment, threats of restricted access to the estates, and disconnection of utilities. The group thanked the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police for helping stop attempts to restrict access and disconnect utilities.

They also called on Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene in the matter, insisting that property owners deserve to be treated as stakeholders, not tenants. "Having sold over 50 per cent 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 coalition said they will return to the press once their demands are met and peace is restored. When contacted on Monday, Oluwakemi Osude-Laniyan, the Executive Director for Public Affairs and International Relations at Adron Homes and Properties Limited, asked our correspondent to send inquiries via WhatsApp. She did not respond to the message.

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