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Embattled members of the Renaissance Homeowners and Residents Association who were ejected from their houses by a Supreme Court order in Rivers State are demanding compensatory actions from the initiator of the housing scheme, First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, formerly known as FBN Mortgage Bank Plc (a subsidiary of First Bank Plc) for selling properties with defective titles to them.
Residents of the Renaissance Homes Housing Scheme which is situated at Plot 96, GRA Phase 3, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had allegedly been rendered homeless since March 1, when men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) invaded the premises to execute a Supreme Court Judgment delivered sometime in January 2003 in favour of the Nigerian Air Force.
In a letter by the solicitors to the homeowners, to the Managing Director (MD) of First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, titled, ‘Notice of demand to reinstate Homeowners and Residents of Renaissance Homes at Plot 96, GRA phase 3, Port Harcourt or payment of N4, 000,000,000 (Four Billion Naira) as compensation for your bank’s gross negligence’, the aggrieved homeowners accused First Trust Mortgage Bank of gross negligent for failing to investigate the title it acquired from Vestor Properties Limited before transferring it to the Renaissance homeowners.
The letter read in part, “We must state that as of 31st January 2003, the decision of the Court of Appeal was already reversed by the Supreme Court, and then in June 2003, Vestor bought the land from Ex-Squadron Leader Obiosa. First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, thereafter, bought the land from Vestor Vestor Properties Limited in 2008.
“In the light of all these facts, a modest due diligence, going by a reasonable man’s test would have revealed that at the time your bank was about to purchase the property from Vestor Vestor Properties Limited in 2008, there was a Court Martial judgment registered on the property, that there was also a Court of Appeal judgment in furtherance of which Vestor Vestor Properties Limited then registered its interest, which would ordinarily arouse the curiosity in anyone, especially your bank, to conduct due diligence on the status of the appeal to the Supreme Court.”
According to Efe Ize-Iyamu, the counsel to the resident association, First Trust Mortgage Bank, who conceived and birthed the idea of Renaissance Homes, neglected to register its title in the property which it originally acquired from Vestor Properties Limited, which led to the unbearable condition his clients have now been subjected to.
He said the homeowners in February 2010 bought several units of 4 (four) bedroom flats by subscribing to the Renaissance Homes Housing Scheme, an initiative of FBN Mortgage Bank Plc now known as First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc (a subsidiary of First Bank Plc) and for over a decade, they enjoyed undisturbed proprietary and possessory rights over the properties until they were chased out of the premises on March 1, 2022, for no fault of theirs.
“Ever since then, the homeowners have been displaced, dispossessed of their various belongings and have been living at the mercy of whoever may show empathy,” the lawyer said.
The property was said to have been a subject of litigation between the Nigerian Air Force and one of its former personnel, Ex-Squadron Leader A. Obiosa, who was court-martialled and allegedly found culpable of financial malfeasance which eventually led to the confiscation of the disputed landed property by the Force.
The dismissed Obiosa allegedly got a reprieve at the Appeal Court and quickly sold the land to Vestor Properties Limited, which in turn transferred the ownership to the First Trust Mortgage Bank.
“It is also curious to note that the Supreme Court had delivered its judgment in January 2003, five (5) years before First Trust Mortgage Bank’s acquisition of the disputed property from Vestor Properties Limited in 2008,” Ize-Iyamu said.
“Ideally, these facts would have been revealed through modest due diligence investigating the title of Vestor Properties Limited by First Trust Mortgage Bank before initiating the Renaissance Housing Home Scheme and conveying defective title to the unsuspecting homeowners considering that the Supreme Court had restored the property to the Nigerian Air Force; therefore the Bank had absolutely nothing to convey or sell to the homeowners.
“Given the circumstances and sensitivity of this issue, it is only fair and conscionable for First Trust Mortgage Bank to take steps towards adequately compensating Renaissance Homeowners having negligently ignored the encumbrance in the disputed property and foisting a defective title on the homeowners.”
Conversely, the bank denied prior knowledge of the delivery and execution of the judgment, insisting it had no reasons to doubt the credibility and validity of the title of its predecessors in-titles, over the land.
The bank’s lawyers, Onyeke, Ideho & Ighomuaye LP, in a letter written to the counsels of the affected homeowners, said its client is pursuing a course of action that will lead to the reclamation of the properties.
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