Bayelsa hotelier plans lawsuit against IGP over ₦625m lodging debt
The owner of Euphemie Motel, a well-known hotel in Opu-Nembe, Nembe Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, has threatened to take legal action against Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun over an alleged unpaid debt of ₦625 million incurred by the Police SWAT team.
This debt has reportedly accumulated since August 12, 2023, when the SWAT team was deployed to restore peace in the area.
According to the hotel owner, the SWAT team, led by CSP Silas Adebayo, has been using the Euphemie Motel as their operational base for sting operations in the Opu-Nembe community without the owners’ consent.
In a letter dated September 23, 2024, addressed to the Inspector-General of Police and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, the owner’s counsel, Inemoye Maxwell Brown Esq., stated that the 50-bedroom hotel, which charges ₦25,000 per night for lodging and ₦100,000 per day for its two conference rooms, has been occupied by police personnel for over 13 months without any payment.
Inemoye Maxwell Brown Esq. stated, “Our client’s business premises and facilities are nearly in complete ruin, and a full renovation is imminent. It is essential to restore these facilities to return to normal business operations.”
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He called on the Inspector-General of Police to instruct the officers who have forcibly occupied the hotel since August 12, 2023, to vacate within six weeks of receiving this correspondence.
He also demanded that the sum of ₦625 million, covering the period from August 12, 2023, to September 12, 2024, be paid within the same timeframe.
Brown noted that if the correspondence from the law firm R.M. Whyte & Co. is disregarded, they will seek legal action to pursue damages for the harm done to the client’s property.
It is important to recall that a detachment of Mobile Policemen and SWAT operatives from Force Headquarters in Abuja arrived in Opu Nembe last year, drawing criticism from stakeholders, indigenes, and politicians ahead of the governorship elections in the state.
When contacted, Bayelsa State police spokesman ASP Musa Muhammed stated that he could not comment on the matter at this time due to his location.
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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