Boss Picks
Fani-kayode vs Ex-Wife, Precious: The Whole Story
By Eric Elezuo
The last has not been heard of the imbroglio between former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, and his ex-wife, Ms Precious Chikwendu, as both parties are still busy using high expletives to describe each other, an aftermath as their marriage of seven years, which came crashing like a pack of cards recently.
A former beauty queen and mother of Fani-Kayode’s four children, Precious had at various occasions described her marriage to the former minister as fake with Fani-Kayode describing her in return as an immoral woman, who was neck deep into infidelity.
“I want to state clearly that my marriage to FFK was based on false pretence as he lied that he had divorced his last wife, Regina. I found his marriage certificate in 2016 during the EFCC raid at our then home. When I confronted him about this, he said that he is about starting Regina’s divorce process and added that he had not seen her in the last ten years,” she stated
After much ups and downs in the marriage, the couple called it quit with each other in August 2020, and ever since, has been locked in a war of attrition and blames with Precious instituting a law suit over child-custody. She had alleged that her ex-husband had taken custody of their four children, and denying her access to them.
Levelling her series of allegations against Mr Fani-Kayode in series of filings in the suit which she had instituted to obtain an order to compel her ex-husband to yield custody of their children to her, she had alleged that Fani-Kayode “beat her up on several occasions even while she was pregnant.”
The ex-beauty queen, had told a Customary Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, that FFK never consummated his six-year relationship with her because he allegedly had erectile dysfunction.
She said her relationship with Fani-Kayode, who she referred to as “estranged cohabiter,” was full of “woes, lies, deceits, quarrels, assaults, battery, and domestic violence.
The 32-year-old model also said that since August 2020 that she walked out of the cohabitation with Fani-Kayode, she had been continuously denied access to her children and her children have been continuously deprived of parental motherly care and protection.
With the series of allegations and counter allegations, Precious hit the media space with an official statement on the situation surrounding the ended marriage. She wrote:
My name is Precious Chikwedu, a graduate of the University of Calabar, Miss Untied Nation 2014, and a Nollywood actress since 2007. Naturally, I maintain a calm disposition when in crisis, being goal-oriented and not a talker of any sort. But I am now forced to respond to these allegations for my children, well-being and career path.
As a student, I lived a moderately comfortable school life with self-sustaining businesses. Upon graduation, I got a job in a construction company. I bought my first car as an undergraduate and have chains of businesses before meeting FFK.
I was also into modelling and had several endorsements as an International beauty queen, in addition to my job; these are verifiable facts.
My Financial Status Before Marriage
I am from a middle-class home where my Dad provides for all my needs. Moreover, I have always been industrious and a provider rather than a collector. Before I met FFK, I worked in a quarry/construction company in Calabar and lived an extremely comfortable life.
I could afford cars within my means, caring for my parents and siblings. I built my parents a house in Nanka, my hometown, in 2012 before heading over to Kingston to win the Miss United Nations title in 2014.
The Gold-Digger
I am tagged a gold-digger due to misconception, ignorance and some people relying on deliberately planted falsehood. It is unfortunate that when I met Femi in 2014, he already had his bank accounts frozen by the EFCC, and they remain frozen to date.
He opened another bank account when he joined the Goodluck Jonathan campaign team in 2015. The present government initiated an investigation based on the campaign funds source. And his campaign account was frozen again. Common sense can show that he may have been financially constrained while I was with him.
My relationship with Femi at the time we met was more of me caring and having a deep concern for him while he was UNDER EFCC PROSECUTION. However, it later transited into a supposed romantic relationship that became oppressive, obsessive and abusive. Femi turned into a control freak that tried to control even the very breath that I took.
Femi posed as a lonely and abandoned man who gave his all to his loved ones but was left alone in his moment of need (EFCC trial). He spoke bitterly of a Regina, who he said fled to her country, abandoning him when President Yar’Adua’s government ordered the EFCC to investigate him for money laundering. The court also mentioned her name.
Marriage Under False Pretence
I want to state clearly that my marriage to FFK was based on false pretence as he lied that he had divorced his last wife, Regina. I found his marriage certificate in 2016 during the EFCC raid at our then home. When I confronted him about this, he said that he is about starting Regina’s divorce process and added that he had not seen her in the last ten years. He further explained that he never fancied her and that their relationship was that of a mother and son kind. At the time I left, he was technically married to her former wife.
On Regina’s claim that she gave her consent for me to be married to FFK, this is a ridiculous and blatant lie. How could she have permitted a relationship she only found out about through social media? This event happened precisely on FFK’s birthday when he deliberately leaked my pregnancy photos after another argument between us and I had to leave the house. He did that to show the world that I was pregnant with his baby. Suffice it to say that we had agreed to keep the pregnancy private before then.
FFK’s Aggressive Behaviour
While I was pregnant with the first child and later the triplets, FFK was habitually beating and mostly punching my stomach.
Anytime he was angry and moody, describing my unborn babies as cockroaches or “a thing” that he will knock off my belly. In one of these attacks and kicking on my tummy, my late mom and my sister visited, and they threw themselves in between us to stop him from further attacks. In his anger, he hit my mum in the head. After that, FFK ended up accusing my sister of assault and got her detained at a police station for coming in-between his punches and me.
Whenever I resist his humiliation and beating, he will deploy his bodyguards to wrestle me down.
In most cases, he called CSP Aisha Yusufu, the then Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Asokoro Police Station. Who usually would come with her team to harass, handcuff, arrest or lock me behind the counter for hours until Femi was satisfied that I have been punished enough. My siblings were locked up countless times as well.
He would always boast of his connections to the government and the system, saying nothing any member can do.
During one of his domestic abuse with the DPAisha and her team from Asokoro police station, FFK instructed that they handcuff and strip me Naked. It was done in the presence of his domestic staff, bodyguards and attached VIP police officers. They injected me with a strange substance, and I lost consciousness.
I woke up in a facility, which they later told me is a hospital, not knowing the number of hours or days I stayed there. My triplets were six months old at that time.
As I say this, I am very afraid for my life. He keeps threatening me at every turn. I have since petitioned the Police but nothing has been done yet but I’m only trusting God.
The Breakdown of the Marriage.
The intervention of family members and FFK’S social circle was one hold back factor that kept me in the relationship much longer.
Notwithstanding how dangerous, especially from Femi’s Mental Health challenges. I wanted to leave the marriage a long-time ago but could not due to the fear factor of FFK. He often lectured me on the crime of passion and how I will not live to tell the story or being looked at by another man.
The fear of Femi losing it and hurting my children in retaliation for my leaving did not help matters. Moreover, the death of both my parents within a short space of time made me more vulnerable.
The verbal and physical abuse increased upon my refusal to have another set of children he had instructed and further used his doctor. I planned to travel overseas for delivery during my pregnancy, a decision that made Femi uncomfortable. The doctor told lies that I have certain conditions like placenta previa in my early first trimester and made it unsafe to travel. Other events happened where bullet shells were planted in my shop, my siblings accused and locked up by SARS, and my passport seized by Femi also hindered me from travelling. I concluded that something was not adding up and decided to go for a second medical opinion. I had no medical condition and was misdiagnosed. FFK planned all these incidents to stop me from travelling overseas.
I had a myomectomy on 31st July 2020; FFK disapproved of the doctor; after my surgery at the Hospital, he instructed the domestic staff not to give me food or drinks. Upon discharge, I arrived home to his usual stage-managed drama. I had no strength to deal with that at that point, so I picked my handbag and left with nothing to allow him to calm down, considering his mental health challenges.
He shortly sent messages through friends to tell me never to put a foot in his property, or he would get me locked up for good. It was how he ended the marriage; I left with only the clothes I wore from the Hospital. He never allowed me to park my properties or take my children.
FFK Media Story About My Parents
FFK claims presented on social media that he took care of my parents for years, got my siblings jobs and a residential apartment. The truth is that FFK asked for my mother to be brought to Abuja to stop me from my frequent travels to the East.
He could not get me to pay less attention to her as my mom and I was inseparable. My mother was already down with cancer a year before I met FFK. I had provided for her needs to help tackle it but based on her religious convictions, and my mom refused to get rid of her lumps. By the time she got to Abuja, her cancer had spread.
Not denying that FFK made contributions to her chemotherapy and some hospital bills, but I funded most of the money from my savings.
Furthermore, FFK was locked up in detention then. On burying my mom, FFK made his contribution, which Rev Okey Onyemachi received, my mother’s brother. It was mostly money to tend to his high-profile guests and give them a comfortable sitting area. My family catered for the rest of the burial expenses.
My Dad was in Abuja for treatment in late November 2019 and passed on on 7th January 2020. The apartment FFK claimed to have rented on social media was the house I rented in December 2019 before my Dad’s birthday. It was because FFK refused to bring my Dad down to Abuja to care for him. He claimed that my father’s people are responsible for the lack of financial flow, according to his prophets.
Sadly, my Dad only spent a week in the house I rented for him before he got critically ill on the night of his birthday. After that night, my Dad was rushed to a hospital, where he eventually passed on.
To date, none of my siblings got even a single referral from FFK for anything, let alone a job. As an in-law, FFK contributed 1.5 million Naira to my Dad’s burial and later said that the money was part of my dowry. He grudgingly did it to allow (traditionally) him to mourn my Dad as an in-law. He had earlier refused to do the rights after our introduction in 2015, after my first son’s birth.
Allegations of Cheating
My years with FFK were completely shrouded; I walked around with at least four police officers and three bodyguards. Friends avoided me even in church as I had a heavy security presence even during offerings and thanksgiving. He perceived every schoolmate, ex, cousin, or male voice as a potential lover over the phone.
I have never had an extramarital affair as dubiously alleged. On the contrary, FFK brought strange women into our matrimonial home at the slightest opportunity.
Claims of Cruelty to My Kids.
It is laughable to read the claims of cruelty from someone who has never raised any of his kids physically since I have known him. How can I be cruel to children that I took lots of pains to bear, to make an ungrateful man who complained about having no sons happy? Both births were IVF conceived, and I took needles for months before and after. I take my kids to school, church, playgrounds and shopping and every other thing that could make them happy as kids. I practically shared my days in his house on my social media pages out of boredom. People who followed loved my boys’ love, as these memories still linger on my social media walls today. I love my kids, and they mean everything to me.
I run an NGO that deals with education for the less privileged. I started with primary and secondary school projects as miss United Nations.
My love for children has been traceable from time. My accuser is the one who deceived innocent children with a scholarship scheme that turned out to be a fraud.
He offered scholarships to three hundred students for top schools in the Benin Republic through my foundation in May 2020.
He did not send One kobo to any student or school. To uphold his honour, I went through the detailed vetting of another scholarship scheme in a better school. FFK abandoned these children and plan after making an empty promise and putting them through complete admission procedures. Suffice it to say that the school and I still bear the responsibility of seeing these kids through.
I tried unsuccessfully to see my kids even at natural grounds, but Femi made it impossible. I refused to go back to the house to see them as every corner of the house, Toilets, Bathroom, Kitchen, Sitting room, Bedroom, the Gate, front of the House reminds me of Femi beatings, stripping me naked in presence of his workers, instructing his Bodyguards to beat me or using the Police to wrestle me down before putting handcuffs.
These were the demons I have been battling including ignoring his lies and fabrications.
An Indictment on his not so Intelligent Person
Honestly, I have just bared my life of over 20years to the world, but then again, what can I say? I take complete blame for my wrong judgment on the choice of FFK based on empathy and naivety.
However, I cannot help but wonder if all these frivolous claims of my indecent lifestyle as portrayed by FFK is not an indictment of his insecure mind.
You cannot have a harlot for a wife and showcase her to the world almost every day with the best captions and poetry to go with it if she is not a fantastic soul. Except for cause, he hides the demonic atrocities he committed while trying to appear as an excellent husband. The FFK I lived with will have the said videos shared if any infidelity claims are distantly valid for ALMOST SEVEN YEARS OF MARRIAGE!
After two heartbreaks, I made one wrong decision, believing that an older man will love and make me happy. All I did was love FFK, fight for him and gave him sons he never had. I did everything for him – I was his barber, editor, nurse (before and after he had his presumed COVID 19), chef, image-maker, and stylist without limit. Physical and verbal abuse was what I got for all these sacrifices. Lies, all sorts of inhumane treatment, and now attempting to keep my tender age children away from their mother.
In response, Fani-Kayode said Precious Chikwendu was suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia., through a statement issued by his lawyer, Ayodeji Ibikunle. He accused her of a disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs as well as ability to think, feel and behave clearly.
The ex-minister’s response came days after Chikwendu said she was forced to remain celibate for six years while they ”cohabited” and alleged that their four children were conceived via artificial insemination.
Fani-Kayode, in the statement, also alleged that Chikwendu is clinically unstable, and is as mad as a hater, prone to telling monstrous lies and making delusional statements. While describing the allegations as “pernicious lies and diabolical fabrication from the pit of hell, he stated that none of his client’s sons was suffering from COVID-19 or that any of them had head injuries, contrary to Chikwendu’s allegations.
The statement partly reads:
“We are constrained to point out the fact that Miss Precious Chikwendu, the former partner of our client Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Sadaukin Shinkafi, is suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and we acknowledge the fact that she is totally insane.”
“Ordinarily we cannot be expected to respond to the crass, filthy, delusional, salacious, disgraceful and absurd allegations of an insane person.”
Thereafter, Chikwendu made claims in an affidavit against Fani-kayode detailing as follows:
“The respondent and I were soon involved in an intimate romantic relationship which lasted for over six years, during which we cohabited together at the respondent’s residence at No. 5, Zuma Close, Off Udi Hills Street, Also Drive, Abuja,” she stated.
“That my relationship was blessed with four children; Master Aragorn Fani-Kayode (five years old), Master Regnar Fani-Kayode (two years old), Master Aiden Fani-Kayode (two years old), and Master Liam Fani-Kayode (two years old).”
“My relationship with the respondent witnessed fear, harassment, and series of assault both perpetrated by the respondent himself or with the use of the Nigerian police force, his security details and, or his personal bodyguards,” she said
“From the early days of our relationship, the respondent has always maintained a lifestyle of utter disregard to my feelings. This was evident in the way and manner the respondent assaulted me while pregnant with our first son, Aragorn.
“The respondent kicked me severally on my stomach over a petty argument that ensued. It was my friend, Vanessa, who was around at the material time, that intervened in the nick of time to save me.
“I had to leave the respondent’s house a few days after this incident. The respondent repeated the same act when I was pregnant with the triplets. This time, it was my mother and sister, Faith, that intervened.
“That the respondent at the slightest provocation, abuses, beats and assaults me, my late mother and my siblings when they visited.
“That as we progressed in the relationship, the beatings became so severe that on many occasions, I feared for my life.”
Countering the affidavit, Fani-Kayode, asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the N800 million suit that was instituted against him, told the court that his ex-wife deprived his children of breast milk on the account of the need to preserve her shape.
He also said it was “coupled with a contrived medical condition which she claimed would not permit her to breastfeed them”.
He further told the court that rather, “she elected to leave her matrimonial home and consciously abandon the children, in order to optimise without restraints, her extra-marital and inordinate sexual escapades.
“As a fact, it is not surprising that Ms. Precious Chikwendu is capable of such reckless abandonment, because: whilst she was with me in the house afore-described, she employed 12 in-house nannies to cater for the children, excluding supervisors and nurses who equally attend to them.”
“The applicant did not at any time extend maternal care to the children, for the reason that she had a medical condition which deprived her of any filial bond with them; she deprived the children of the natural sucks or breast milk, also on account of the need to preserve her body shape, coupled with a contrived medical condition which she claimed would not permit her to breastfeed them,” the statement read in part.
He narrated further:
The statement of claim and affidavit that was filed in court by one Precious Chikwendu against Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is filled with lies and falsehood.
Not one thing that she has alleged there is true. She is a pathological liar and a slanderer and we intend to prove this in court.
We also believe thet she is unfit to be a mother and that she has shown nothing but cruelty to her children whom she has never taken care of or shown the love and affection.of a mother.
We believe that the children’s lives would be in danger if they are with her and we shall prove this in court.
For the avoidance of doubt at no time did Chief Fani-Kayode expose his children to danger and he has always provided them with the best of care inckuding 12 nannies and nurses who did all the work even when their mother was in the house and whom she herself employed.
Chikwendu’s only pastime was to post pictures and words on Instagram and sleep with men outside.
She also tried to seduce a number of Chief Fani-Kayode’s friends when he was in detention and extort money from them.
Neither is it true that she was ever beaten by Chief Fani-Kayode or anyone else in his staff and security team, either when she was pregnant or not pregnant and it is not true that she was subjected to any form of physical or mental abuse from them.
As a matter of fact she was the abuser and not Chief Fani-Kayode or any of his security team or staff.
On one occassion she cut two people with a knife and almost bit off the finger of a third when she was trying to attack and kill her own children and husband with two knives. Thirty people witnessed this and we have it on video.
On another occasion when she was caught in bed with a married naval officer in a hotel she cut her own foot with a broken bottle and said she would tell the world that her husband did it. At least three people witnessed this.
She and her lover begged not to be prosecuted for adultery even after there was evidence to show that they were planning to have Fani-Kayode murdered.
At a later date she was committed to a mental health facility for one month.
We urge members of the public to wait until the truth is revealed about Chikwendu, her mental and physical abuse of her own children, her mental illness, her numerous attempts to murder Chief Fani-Kayode and his four children, her adulterous ways, her unfathomable cruelty, her gold-digging ways, her violence and so much more before they make up their minds.
Responding, Chikwendu practically hit back at the former minister, threatening to respond with pictures and video evidence.
“I am a mother who is only interested in raising her kids and not dragging with a man who sees no value in respecting at least his over hyped past offices and records. Soon you would force me to release videos of the much damages you did. You are obviously shocked I have pictures and figured the school right?”.
In the course of the litigations and accusations, Chikwendu had dragged in some personalities, who she felt were against her in the fight. The first was Senator Folashade Bent, who she accused of plotting to kill her and Rev Emmanuel Olorunmagba, who she said was responsible for some of the fights she had with FFK as well as called her derogatory names.
In their separate responses, they denied the allegations.
In Senator Bent’s rebuttal through a statement by signed by her Public Relations Officer, Timothy Williams maintained that at no time did she prevail on the estranged wife of the former minister to abandon her paternity suit, nor was after her life, noting that she had duly reported the matter to the Police as a responsible citizen.
In Rev. Olorunmagba’s remarks, which captured the essence of the 16 months brouhaha, the cleric revealed the genesis of the crisis, and the supposed efforts he made in between.
RESPONSE TO PRECIOUS CHIKWENDU’S FALSE ACCUSATIONS
“Precious Chikwendu claimed that I was responsible for most fights between her and Chief FFK and claimed I called her derogatory names which are just lies and cheap way of getting sympathy from the general public as her custom is. It’s so unfortunate that she turned out to be an ingrate and chose to employ lies on me because I posted that those issues in circulation on social media are not good for her four sons to read in the future. And I have personally said same to Chief FFK, who to the best of my knowledge, I have not seen him posting on her issue, rather it was his lawyer’s response that I saw and he has even said he won’t say anything personally on her issue. But funny enough some Nigerians don’t used to care to hear the other side of issues before jumping to conclusions especially if it has to do with a female accusing a pastor. Of course the new trend now is that social media has become a tool of cheap blackmail against pastors. And social media has turned many people to “journalists” even when they don’t understand the ethics of journalism that if a person is accused you (bloggers) don’t just post one sided story you reach out to the person and hear his own side so as to balance your report. Amusingly some bloggers carried her lies without anyone trying to contact me in any way to even hear my own side.
“Note that I am not one that would publicize the good I have done for someone but just for the record, I have to respond to her childish and cheap lies and will be forced to say just little out of many things.
“{Precious Chikwendu, on more than two occasions, I have settled issues between you and Chief FFK. An example was the Anambra State incident where you angrily left the hotel room where you were lodged with Chief at odd time, even hit the police man that was begging you not to go to your father’s house. But you left and still the lawyer that was with us then and I, had to plead for you with chief and we got down to your father’s house with chief to ensure reconciliation.
“Or was it that of 28th December 2019 (I am mentioning this case because it’s already on social media) when chief called me and told me of how he caught you in the act of adultery in a hotel room with a Naval Officer, and how he was done with you and will release the video of you and the guy on social media. But I took the next available train from Kaduna to Abuja only because of that and still pleaded with chief not to make any post that will tarnish the image of his children’s mother. He listened to my plea but vowed before me and others not to ever make love to you from that day on.
“And I was still preaching to him for forgiveness and reconciliation of you both even when others were shouting ,”send her away” to the extent that the staff in the house did not only celebrate that you would never return, they even went to House on the Rock Church to thank God that the person deducting their salaries and oppression them had been shown the way out. But as I returned to Kaduna I still kept calling and talking on the need for forgiveness until Chief FFK brought you back to his house.
“On another occasion that you packed out of the house among many occasions (of packing out and packing in), I even called you on phone and spoke with you after talking to chief so that both of you can get back together for the sake of the kids who are entitled to both parents’ love and presence.
“Even the night I received call that you carried knife and was jumping from on top of chair to another chair; that the entire staff were scared, that Chief FFK said he had to call a female police DPO to come with female police officers and it took several hours till late into the night, before they could get the knife out of your hand and you were taken for psychiatrist attention the next morning. While others were expressing fear that what if it starts happened to you in the dead of the night while you are alone with Chief FFK and you stab him, I still prayed that God heal you. Now you are turning against me?
“You even lied to the extent that you that once claimed Chief FFK can’t perform on bed now turn to lie again that I anointed WOMEN that were brought on your BED. Ha, Precious Chikwendu, I have never and will never introduce any single lady to another single man for marriage not to talk of ever introducing women to a married man. God forbid!
“As per the prayers, not only have I and is still praying for chief, I have prayed for you as well and I do pray for anyone that I am close to and I will still continue praying for all the people I am close to and no devil can stop that because I am called to bless. Before you went for your last surgery, chief called me and I prayed for you, both during and after the surgery. I have always prayed for peace in the family and your children as well. You are in the know of all these but you always take to social media to solicit for sympathy through lying. On the false and laughable allegations that I am living in Chief FFK’s house: since you claimed that my members don’t see me in church, then give my church address to your followers and tell them to come any Wednesday 5pm during our Midweek Service or any of our two services on Sunday at 7 am and 8:45 am respectively. Then if they don’t see me and I am in the country they can conclude on that. I won’t say more than this.
“Over this your relationship issue, you have lied on Chief FFK, Mrs Regina in Ghana, a Senator, police personnel, lawyers and now it’s the turn of pastors and my turn for you to lie on. Ironically, some Nigerians are still believing you despite that you have two criminals cases in different courts over defamation of character, falsehood, conspiracy and cybercrime. The cases are still ongoing, yet you still continue for the media attention through false and malicious allegations on people.
“GET THIS CLEAR TODAY, I HAVE NEVER BEEN PARTY TO ANY BROKEN MARRIAGE AND I WILL NEVER BE PARTY TO SUCH. RATHER BY THE GRACE OF GOD, MANY MARRIAGES THAT WERE AT THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE HAVE BEEN RESTORED THROUGH ME, AS FAR AS BOTH PARTY TAKE COUNSEL AND PRACTICE THE WORD OF GOD AS TAUGHT.
“And I still stand on my point that continuous social media ranting will only keep exposing things your children will not be happy to read when they grow. I just hope you realise what you are doing yourself before it becomes too late…
Speaking in defence of the ex-minister, Fani-Kayode’s first wife, Mrs. Regina Fani-Kayode, whom he married in 1997, called Chikwendu a strange and sick woman.
“Precious Chikwendu, a strange woman that he took under his roof, married under law and custom and lived with for seven years has written things about my husband which are not only untrue but also downright defamatory and scandalous and I will respond to her with the following as a first salvo.
“Precious, you are just a sick woman and a big liar. I know you collected over half a million USD dollars from Femi within the first few months of meeting him for a fake investment. We have witnesses to prove it and remember that you even asked me to thank him for it. I also know he set you up in one business or the other four times in 7 years and got you offices etc. but you squandered it all.
“When you came to my husband and took over my home you and your family were like hungry refugees. You had nothing but rubber slippers and you were desperate for help.
“My husband sent three of your siblings to tye hest schools for seven years and took care of their every need yet you now slander him and insult him not minding the effect it will have on your own children. That in itself proves that you are insane…,” she said.
According to Chikwendu, this same Regina, “fled to her country, abandoning him (Fani-Kayode) when President Yar’Adua’s government ordered the EFCC to investigate him for money laundering. The court also mentioned her name.”
Also responding to the Rec Olorunmagba’s retort against, Chikwendu wondered why a clergy would sound ‘un pastor like’ in his grammatical tone, which he described as abusive style.
She however, accused her estranged husband as the one who responded on behalf of Olorunmagba, wondering as well why Fani-kayode would do that.
She wrote:
“How come Femi Fani Kayode is the one responding for Mr Olorunmagba? The grammatical tone and abusive style sounds “un pastor like” and the mailing list all from Femi Fani kayode. These have been his usual stories without proofs since I left in August last year. Emmanuel Olorumagba, other pastors whom I won’t make famous and Femi will not distort my focus and resolve to have access to my children this holiday just as the court ordered last Wednesday.
“Whatever stories came from cohabiting with him and his pastors are irrelevant. I would not loose my focus, but instead appeal that Mr Fani-Kayode obeys the court order and let me have access to my children at a neutral environment and in presence of both my lawyers and his lawyers if need be. My children are all that matters to me.”
For as many that has been following the war of words between the former minister and the former former beauty queen, it is obvious that only time will reveal who will blink first even as the Wednesday, the D-Day draws closer.
By Eric Elezuo
Mrs. Olufunlola Aderinokun, widow of late former Chief Executive Officer, Guaranty Trust Bank, Tayo Aderinokun, has raised alarm over illegal, dangerous construction and encroachment into her property, Rehoboth Place, situated along Banana Island Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, by the Shell Staff Cooperative Investment and Thrift Society Limited, alerting Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu through an S.O.S letter to intervene, call the offenders to order, and save her building, its occupants and the general public from more present and unforeseen harm.
Speaking exclusively to The Boss, Mrs. Aderinokun lamented the recalcitrant stance of the Shell Staff Cooperative Investment and Thrift Society Limited, whose building shares a common perimeter fence with Rehoboth Place, and how they have continued their illegal construction, which has consistently defaced Rehoboth Place, in spite of cautions and deterring efforts employed by the government and the residents of Rehoboth Place.
“You need to visit the site to see how these people have defaced an already sitting building, causing structural damages as well as keeping residents of Rehoboth Place on their toes for fear of more structure collapse and/or imminent danger to lives,” she said.
Recalling that Rehoboth Place was built since 2016 according to all laid down construction rules and specifications, she further stated that on many occasions, the scaffolds and other heavy duty equipment including spanners and huge iron bars, used by the Shell Staff Coop builders, have collapsed and dropped into Rehoboth Place building, causing untold structural defacing and fear of possible fatal bodily harm to the residents. This, according to her, is because the Shell Staff Coop building is less than two metres away from the common fence, while the recommended spacing is from six meters.
Recounting to The Boss the genesis of her ordeal with the building developers and the Lagos State government with the General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, whom she believes is showing unbelievable favour to Shell Staff Coop at the expense of injuries to lives and properties at Rehoboth Place, Mrs Aderinokun, a 67 years old retired widow, who claims that she can neither sleep well in her own bedroom nor park her car in her own compound because of the noise, danger, debris and mutilation from the Shell Staff Coop construction, narrated that the whole illegality, as she termed it, is dated back to 2020, when the Shell Staff Coop building construction started the piling work.
“As at then, I was not in the country, and because of the COVID-19 issue, many things were played down. However, when I returned to the country in August 2021, after one and half years away from Nigeria, I discovered that they had damaged my property, Rehoboth Place, extensively. My own letting agent didn’t tell me, but was rather negotiating with the offenders on how to repair the damages. Naturally, I was furious and demanded both a halt on the project and thorough compensation for the extensive damage. Note that by then, at Rehoboth Place, a bungalow, the bore hole, the perimeter fence, and other structures were already completely compromised beyond repair.
“However, in 2023, I mobilised structural engineers and the company that built Rehoboth Place originally, Cappa and D’Alberto Ltd, to begin repairs of all the damages that Shell Staff Coop caused. The Engineers wrote off the compromised bungalow and common fence, and insisted that they must be brought down completely before repairs could commence.
“However, while they were carrying out repair and reconstruction works, materials from the Shell Staff Coop construction continued to drop inside the compound from very high levels, making it impossible for safe and healthy work to continue at Rehoboth Place. Debris of cement, water, polystyrene particles and bars, tools and other dangerous materials were constantly dropping into Rehoboth Place from high levels, and so the workmen had to abandon the job, and ran for dear life. It wasn’t safe. It was not healthy. Cappa & D’Alberto Ltd wrote to demobilise from the site of Rehoboth Place in July 2023, and cannot return to the site till date because of the danger from Shell Staff Coop construction, while Lagos State looks away!
“As at today, I can’t park my car in my own compound. The huge terrace at Rehoboth Place, next to the building of Shell Staff Coop and the swimming pool at Rehoboth Place, have not been usable since May 2023, till date. While I was getting ready to sue Shell Staff Coop for the damages caused to the building, the scaffolding of Shell Staff Coop fell on the 5th floor of Rehoboth Place on 19th July 2023. This could amount to a criminal offence under the laws of Lagos State as it constitutes danger to human life and public safety,” she said.
Mrs Aderinokun’s complaints to the Lagos State Building Control Agency, under Mr Gbolahan Oki, led to an inspection and subsequent sealing of the site to stop further construction in July 2023.
“Mr Oki stated to me over the phone on 1st November 2023 that the Shell Staff Coop will pay for the damages, and that, ‘even if it’s the governor that is the one building there, they (Lagos State) will do the right thing’. I’m surprised that Mr. Oki is the one who’s no longer responding to the matter today. And on January 15, 2024, the Lagos State government allowed Shell Staff Coop to return to site, and resume construction, alarmingly without addressing any of the reasons for sealing up the Shell Staff Coop building for almost 6 months! The knocks from the close construction of Shell Staff Coop woke me up from my bed on 15th January 2024 and have continued until now, 7 days a week,” she noted.
As a follow up, Aderinokun recalled that on January 20, 2024, writing in her capacity as the Director of her company, Quadro Investment Limited, owner of the property, Rehoboth Place, she again appealed to the Lagos State Building Control Agency via the General Manager, and re-detailed the hazards that the construction of the Shell Staff Coop portend, and continues to unleash, and appealed that the government should put a stop to the building or at most curtail the dangers inherent. She wondered why the construction was allowed to resume six months after sealing up, with nothing to show that due diligence has been done.
The letter, which was titled “Re: Construction of Multiple Storey Building Against Building Regulations Along Banana Island Road, Etisalat LGA, Ikoyi, Lagos, Which Shares a Common Perimeter Fence with Our Property, Rehoboth Place”, reminded the Agency that the ongoing construction of the Shell Staff Coop, was sealed up by Lagos State officials on July 25 2023, when they visited and they discovered certain unpalatable infractions including absence of airspace and protection against damage to the adjoining premises of Rehoboth Place and others, among many other inanities.
In their capacity as a regulatory agency, the LSBCA had, in July 2023, assessed the scene and discovered as follows:
1. That the safety nets were not properly installed,
2. Blockade of public drainage facilities as a result of the construction work,
3. Damage of adjoining property due to effects of construction,
4. Inadequate airspace of right side of the structure.
Therefore, the Agency came up with certain recommendations, which were pasted on the fence of the construction site of Shell Building Cooperative. The recommendation was a point-blank order to stop the construction of the building as a result of the following reasons: 1. The development was unauthorized 2. The development did not conform to the planning permit issued by the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority. 3. There’s no authorization to commence construction by LSBCA as required by law, and 4. The structure erected is contrary to Building Control Standards.
The Agency concluded its recommendation with sealing up authorization that the building should stop henceforth with the service of the Order.
“That was on 25 July 2023, but the construction resumed on 15 January 2024 with no evidence of the noted hazards controlled, and events at the site have continued to put Rehoboth Place and its occupants in harm’s way, The 10 inches spanner fell onto the ground floor of Rehoboth Place on 29th January 2024, from a height of about 7 or more floors of the building of the Shell Staff Coop! If the spanner had fallen on the head of anyone at Rehoboth Place, the fatality that could have happened can only be imagined” Aderinokun lamented.
The letter is presented in details below:
22 January 2024.
The General Manager,
Lagos State Building Control Agency,
Muiz Banire Street,
Off Oba Akinjobi Way,
GRA, Ikeja.
Dear Sir,
RE: CONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPLE STOREY BUILDING AGAINST BUILDING REGULATIONS ALONG BANANA ISLAND ROAD, ETI-OSA L.G.A. IKOYI, LAGOS; WHICH SHARES A COMMON PERIMETER FENCE WITH OUR PROPERTY REHOBOTH PLACE.
The above-described development, which is an ongoing construction and adjacent to our property, Rehoboth Place (at Plots 16-17, along Banana Island Road, Ikoyi, Lagos) was sealed up by your agency on 25th July 2023 for a number of infractions, amongst which were the absence of protection and airspace against damage to the adjoining premises of Rehoboth Place and others. Please find attached here, copies of the contravention notice and stop work order pasted by your Agency on the construction site.
On 16th January 2024, work recommenced at the construction and it appears that the property has been unsealed. This is despite the continued absence of protection on the construction works and airspace to Rehoboth Place. As a result, both our property (Rehoboth Place) and its occupants have been placed back at risk of suffering substantial damage, serious injury and/or death due to debris and other things falling into Rehoboth Place from the construction site. Please find attached here, photos of some of the items that have fallen into Rehoboth Place from the adjoining construction site before the sealing up of the site by your Agency.
Further, the building remains less than the stipulated distance from its boundary with Rehoboth Place, which is a clear, and continuing breach of building regulations.
In the circumstances, we are left to speculate as to the reasons why the construction site has been permitted to continue, even as the specific contraventions, for which it was ordered to stop work, continue un-remediated, almost 6 months later. It would appear that the attitude that has resulted in a number of building tragedies in Lagos State continues to prevail within your Agency.
We hereby notify you that we will not fold our arms and do nothing, while our property is exposed to further trespass and the possibility of serious injury and/or loss of life to its occupants. Should any injury and/or death be suffered by anyone at all, please be in no doubt that a report will be made to law enforcement agencies and the contents of this letter and those of our other appeals to Lagos State on this matter, will be brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities.
In the circumstances, we are constrained to issue this notice demanding that you enforce the building regulations on the above-stated construction works, failing which we shall have no option, other than to institute legal proceedings to compel you to fulfil your statutory obligations.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Olufunlola K. Aderinokun.
Director.
With no commensurate response from the LSBCA, and the sensing the criminal intent, Aderinokun petitioned the Commissioner of Police, CP Fayoade, and copied the AIG zone 2, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the Commissioner for Environment, to use his good office to stop the construction before injuries or even death are recorded.
The letter is produced below:
20 February 2024.
The Commissioner of Police,
Lagos State Police Headquarters,
Muiz Banire Street,
GRA, Ikeja,
Lagos State.
Dear Sir,
RE: PETITION ON THE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION THAT IS AGAINST PUBLIC SAFETY, CONTRARY TO SECTION 123 OF THE CRIMINAL LAW OF LAGOS STATE, 2015, CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE AT THE PROPERTY THAT ADJOINS REHOBOTH PLACE (A RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT) SITUATE ALONG BANANA ISLAND ROAD, IKOYL, LAGOS.
We are the owner of Rehoboth Place, situate at Plots 16-17, Banana Island Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The construction works adjoining Rehoboth Place belongs to, The Shell Staff Cooperative Investment and Thrift Society Limited, whose office address is at Freeman House, 21/22 Marina, Lagos State.
Please refer to the above subject matter and the self-explanatory letter, which is attached here, dated 22 January 2024, written by us to the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LSBCA).
In addition to the contents and attachments to our said letter written to the LSBCA, please find attached here, photos of 3 (three) more injurious items, which fell into Rehoboth Place from the adjoining compound at various times.
The big blue piece of iron (contained in the attachment to the letter to the LSBCA), which weighs about 8 kilograms, fell from the adjoining compound into Rehoboth Place, sometime in July 2023, while the 10 inches spanner, fell from the adjoining compound into Rehoboth Place at about 10.45am on 29th January 2024. The iron rod that is about 60 inches long, weighs two & a half kilograms.
All the items fell onto the ground floor of Rehoboth Place from heights of 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th floors of the adjoining construction works, which are obviously being constructed, too close to Rehoboth Place and other neighbouring properties, in contravention of the building laws, regulations and permits of Lagos State.
We hereby, humbly appeal to your office, to take all necessary action to investigate the ongoing danger to human life and public safety, that is being posed by the owners and occupiers of the property adjoining Rehoboth Place.
Furthermore, we appeal to you, to use your good offices to ensure that the said dangerous construction works, which are being carried out in the adjoining compound to Rehoboth Place are stopped immediately before any further crime in committed, particularly before the occurrence of any loss of life or serious injury to anyone,
We trust in your kind and urgent attention to this matter.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
DIRECTOR.
Cc:
1. The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice,
Lagos State Ministry of Justice,
The secretariat, Block 2,
Alausa, Ikeja.
2 The Assistant Inspector-General of Police,
The Nigeria Police Force, Zone 2,
Command Headquarters,
King George V Road, Onikan,
Lagos State.
3. The Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources,
Ministry of Environment and Water Resources,
The Lagos State secretariat,
Alausa, Ikeja.
With no response from the General Manager, Mr Gbolahan Oki, the Rehoboth Place owner, having established a criminal intent with the Police, resorted to writing the governor one more time, whom she had been privileged to discuss the matter with via phone and in person on several occasions. It is on record that Aderinokun had earlier on August 8, 2023 and November 28, 2023 written to the governor on the same issue. But like the manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency, neither the governor nor his office responded.
“They practically called my bluff, without a care of what their silence and inaction on these matters is causing to me personally, to other members of the public and/or may cause in the future,” Aderinokun said.
Below is the full letter addressed to the governor:
29th February 2023.
Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu,
Executive Governor,
Lagos State of Nigeria,
Governor’s Office,
Alausa,
Lagos State.
Dear Mr. Governor,
PLEASE, SAVE OUR SOULS.
RE: IN RESPECT OF THE ONGOING CONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPLE STOREY BUILDING AGAINST BUILDING REGULATIONS ALONG BANANA ISLAND ROAD, ETI-OSA L.G.A. IKOYI, LAGOS; POSING A DANGER TO THE ADJOINING PROPERTY-REHOBOTH PLACE AND HAS CAUSED STRUCTURAL DAMAGES & COLLAPSE OF STRUCTURES AT REHOBOTH PLACE.
I am the managing director of Quadro Investment Limited, the registered owner of Rehoboth Place, which is situated at Plots 16-17, along Banana Island Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, built and completed in the year 2016.
The owner of the ongoing construction which shares a common fence with Rehoboth Place, is Shell Staff Co-operative Investment & Thrift Society Limited (hereinafter called, “Shell Staff Cooperative”) with office address at Freeman House, 21/22 Marina, Lagos.
I am hereby writing an S.O.S., Save Our Souls to Mr. Governor for the reasons set out below.
1. People are continuously exposed to danger of serious injury and/or death at Rehoboth Place because the Lagos State authorities have allowed the construction work by Shell Staff Cooperative to continue, despite the danger it poses to the neighbourhood, its continuous pollution to the environment and the fact that it does not meet the building laws and regulations of Lagos State.
2. In respect of this subject matter, Quadro Investment Limited has written to:
2.1 you, Mr. Governor, by its letters dated 08 August 2023 and 28th November 2023;
2.2 the Lagos State Building Control Agency by its letter dated 22 January 2024;
2.3 the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, by its letter dated 20 February 2024. This letter was copied to, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Nigeria Police Force and the Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources, Lagos State.
Copies of the letters stated in 2.2 and 2.3 above are attached here.
3. In addition to the above, I have made several personal appeals to you, imploring you to grant me an audience to meet with you, to explain the situation to you after my letters and for you to look into this matter and direct Lagos State authorities to ensure that its own Building Regulations and Laws are adhered to in the construction by Shell Staff Cooperative. Unfortunately, all my efforts appear to have been ignored.
4. The on-going construction by Shell Staff Cooperative, which is on its 9th floor and still going up, stands less than 2 meters to its common fence with Rehoboth Place and has caused extensive damage, including collapse of structures at Rehoboth Place. It is posing a danger to life and health in the neighbourhood and at Rehoboth Place. While Lagos State has allowed the construction by Shell Staff Cooperative to continue, the owners of Rehoboth Place cannot use their own property, for fear of danger to life!!
5. Injurious and life-threatening items like big iron bars, weighing 8kg, other iron rods weighing 3kg and 1kg, a 10 inches long spanner, huge polypyrene bars have fallen from heights of 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th floors of the ongoing construction by Shell Staff Cooperative into the ground floor of Rehoboth Place at various times in 2023, and on 29th January 2024. Also, rains of construction water, cement, dust and particles of polypyrene and nylon continuously shower and fly into the airspace, terraces, swimming pool, onto motor vehicles, other valuable properties and indoor living areas at Rehoboth Place. Please find attached hereto, photos to back this up.
6. The scaffolding being used for the construction by Shell Staff Cooperative fell onto the 5th floor of Rehoboth Place on 19th July 2023, which led to a Contravention Notice and a Stop Work Order being pasted on the construction site of Shell Staff Cooperative on 25 July 2023. Please find photos attached here. From then on, the site remained closed for work, for about 6 months, until 15th January 2024, when work suddenly resumed at the constructions of Shell Staff Cooperative, without addressing a single one of the reasons for the sealing up of the premises as stated in the Contravention Notice, including the non-application of safety net on the construction site. Please find attached here, shown in the videos recorded in the flash drive and photos of the dangling scaffolding on Rehoboth Place.
7. Since 15th January 2024, construction by Shell Staff Cooperative have continued, 7 days a week, including outside regulated working hours in a residential area, during night time hours, without any regard for neighbours. They start as early as 7am, waking me up from my sleep with consistent provocative sounds of hammer/iron knocking on iron, 7 days a week, week after week, without any break. Also, on 26th of January 2024, I was woken up from my sleep at 12.00 midnight because of the noise of the truck, working past midnight at the constructions of Shell Staff Cooperative. Please find the proof of this shown in the videos recorded in the flash drive attached here.
8. The non-stop early morning knocking noise (7 days a week) from construction by Shell Staff Cooperative have had untold impact on my brain, psychology and well-being. Part of the reasons that certain distances are prescribed and legislated between buildings, is to avoid noise from one building into another. Since 15th January 2024 to date, it has been like living on a construction site at Rehoboth Place, every day, non-stop, and not a single day of break. Sir, please permit me to add here, that by God’s grace, I am a 67 (sixty-seven) years old widow, resident and indigene of Lagos State.
9. I cannot walk around my compound, I cannot park my car in my own home at Rehoboth Place and we are not able to use our terraces, because of the showers of cement, dirt, dust and polystyrene particles raining from the constructions of Shell Staff Cooperative, onto our cars, other valuables and terraces at Rehoboth Place. Also, we have not been able to use the swimming pool at Rehoboth Place since April 2023 up to the date of this appeal. Please find attached here, the photo of the unhealthy materials from the construction by Shell Staff Cooperative inside the pool and on our terraces at Rehoboth Place, even inside our flower pots on the 5th floor!!!
10. Yet, Lagos State is looking away from this blatant disregard of its building regulations and laws, pollution of the environment, to favour the constructions of Shell Staff Cooperative at the expense of the users of Rehoboth Place.
11. Meanwhile, Lagos State recently banned the use of styrofoams and single use plastics in the State. Sir, it is my humble opinion that Lagos State needs to go further and ban the use of polystyrene in construction sites. The construction workers of Shell Staff Cooperative have been seen cutting into smaller bars, at high levels of 6th, 7th, 8th floors, huge polystyrene bars, without any protection, thereby spraying unhealthy particles of polystyrene, with high health hazards to the neighbourhood and onto Rehoboth Place.
12. Also shown in the videos recorded in the flash drive attached to this letter, is the video of Mr. Gbolahan Oki, the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency when he visited Rehoboth Place on 2nd November 2023. Unfortunately, Mr. Oki has not matched his words with actions and instead, has allowed the constructions of Shell Staff Cooperative to continue, despite the potential of the occurrence of a catastrophe.
13. Sir, my life and the lives of others are being put to danger by the construction of Shell Staff Cooperative, particularly because of its closeness to Rehoboth Place.
14. Sir, I’m not willing to wait until people are seriously injured and/or someone dies, before I cry out to the public. There is a potential of criminal offence being committed by the closeness of the constructions of Shell Staff Cooperative to Rehoboth Place. The photos and videos that I have attached here and the sealing up of the construction by Shell Staff Cooperative for about 6 months by Lagos State, speak volumes and I am sincerely not exaggerating.
15. Again, I hereby personally implore Mr. Governor, to use your good office to ensure that another unfortunate catastrophe related to building collapse, serious human injury and/or death does not happen in Lagos State, in this matter.
Sir, I am trusting in your speedy good judgement in this matter. Thank you, Sir.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Olufunlola K. Aderinokun (née Agusto).
It will be noted that building collapse has remained a recurring decimal in Lagos State. One can recall that a massive Ikoyi building, located not too far from Rehoboth Place, collapsed in 2022, and claimed lives of prominent Nigerians with many other budding professionals.
“All we are doing is to prevent a disaster lurking in the corner, and for me to have a safe and peaceful possession of my property,” Aderinokun concluded.
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