Despite the increase in Nigeria’s economy and the high cost of accommodation, faced by all citizens, some house owners and their children in Cross River State, especially in Calabar have turned themselves into antagonists and weapons fashioned against their tenants.
The displayed attitude of some house owners and those whose parents are house owners in Calabar is displeasing. They tend to forget that a perceived inferior has certain rights even in the midst of a perceived superior.
There are reports of landlords/ladies either insulting or degrading their tenants for one reason or another which often time leads to heated arguments or results in legal battles.
Reports of house owners infringing or invading tenants’ privacies have gone unchecked. From experience and witnesses below, if the unwholesome activities of some house owners are not checked in Cross River, especially, the Calabar metropolis, it will continue to give the state a bad name in that regard.
Just at Big Qua Town Calabar Municipal LGA, Mr. Emmanuel Patrick (tenant) reports “My landlord built an extra room beside my window and it has denied my room access to ventilation and when I complained about it, he said he already told me to pack out of the apartment, meanwhile I have extra months of stay before my rent expires.
“I kept complaining to him yet he still claims he has done nothing wrong and if I’m not comfortable in the apartment I should pack out, so I decided to let things remain the way they are.”
At Asim Ikang Street, Big qua Town Calabar. Baba Tunde narrates his experience: “My landlady’s daughter goes into my apartment using the spare keys which are under her custody. She goes in only when she is certain that I will be away for a long period of time. She was able to know my available time because she would always ask me if I would be traveling and if I respond with “yes” she will ask “when”. However, the reason why she kept asking didn’t dawn on me until I noticed some weird happenings in my apartment whenever I came back from traveling.
“She will make use of whatever food items she finds in my kitchen and do away with any item she finds in my bedroom like body spray, soap, and several other stuffs which I can’t even recall.
“I found out after several observations, that my food items in the kitchen reduce in quantity only when I’m unavailable and maintain their quantity when I’m available and using them. Aside from that, I don’t leave my room unkempt, same as every other part of my home especially if I’m traveling, one faithful day, when I came back from my 3-month holiday, I noticed that my properly arranged bed changed its shape and that caught my attention real quick, also the house was giving this ‘someone was here’ kind of look and smell. It was quite easy for me to notice because I hate it when my bed is scattered and the entire house looks fairly used.”
An eye witness, Miss Debbie (Baba Tunde’s neighbor) attests that: “On several occasions, I’ve seen my landlady’s daughter bring men inside this my neighbor’s apartment in the middle of the night when she feels everyone is asleep or we are not at home. Sometimes at noon, she sneaks into the room to nap and then sneaks out.”
At Asi-Abang Street, a similar scenario played out when a Youth Corp Member, Sandra shared her ordeal: “Where I stay, one plain ceiling was used to cover two buildings that sit on one block. Concerning the two buildings I occupy one while my landlady’s 24-year-old son occupies the other. He passed through the ceiling one day and found the path that led to my bathroom.
“He made a hole in the ceiling so he could see through it whenever I was having my bath. The very day I noticed it, I called him and warned him never to try it again and I went ahead to seal the hole in the ceiling.”
From the testimonies, there is a need for the government and authorities in charge of house regulation to look into some of these issues. House owners should know that a tenant today might be a house(s) owner tomorrow and a house owner could be a tenant tomorrow.
As a Nigerian-born musician “Stone Cold” sang: “Landlord travel and see”, individuals’ rights, privacy, and economic power should be respected.
Favour William is a 300-level student of Mass Communication Department, University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), and on Industrial Training with CrossRiverWatch.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Favour William, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.
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