Professor Richard Wokocha, a constitutional lawyer and lecturer in the Department of Law at Rivers State University, has cautioned landlords against taking the law into their own hands during disputes with tenant
According to him, landlords have no right to violate tenants’ fundamental human rights. He emphasised that landlords seeking to recover their property should approach a Magistrate’s Court. Any action taken without a valid court order, he explained, is unconstitutional.
He further stated that landlords renting to yearly tenants are required to issue a six-month notice to quit. On the matter of compensation, he said that if a court finds a landlord acted illegally, it may award damages up to or below the amount claimed by the tenant.
The remarks follow the arrest of Frimpong Samuel by officers of the Ozuoba Police Division. Samuel allegedly removed the roof of his tenant Tochukwu Anozie’s apartment along NTA Road after the tenant failed to vacate two weeks past the expiration of his rent.
Anozie has demanded N25 million in damages, claiming the landlord’s actions led to the destruction of his belongings by rain.
