The management of Little Palace Hotel, Ishawo, Ikorodu, Lagos State, has accused the Nigerian Army of forcefully taking over its facility.
It alleged that the manager of the hotel, Friday Imhanzuria, was arrested and detained for over two months at the Nigerian Navy Base, Apapa, for demanding the reopening of the hotel.
The counsel for the hotel, Moses Okosun, said although the incident happened sometime in July 2015, efforts by the management to seek audience with the military authorities did not yield result until February 2017, when the Army said the Lagos State Government authorised the use of the hotel.
Okosun said when he wrote the government seeking explanation, the state denied knowledge of authorisation, demanding proofs that it gave the order.
He said the hotel was considering suing the government for damages, adding that losses running into millions of naira had been incurred.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Little Palace was one of the two hotels on Tapa Street, Oke-Oko, Ishawo, a community under militant siege.
It was learnt that as the clash between security operatives and the militants intensified, many residents fled their homes, just as the two hotels in the area were shut sometime in June 2015.
Our correspondent was told that when the military entered the community, the two hotels were occupied and used as military bases. However, the owner of the second hotel met the authorities after a month and his property was vacated by soldiers.
The manager of Little Palace Hotel, Imhanzuria, said when he approached the military as well, he was arrested.
He said, "The hotel was opened in November 2014 and the owner, Mr. Ehioze Aimuan, is based in Italy. He asked me to manage the hotel. When the clashes between the militants and security agents increased and some DSS officials were killed, people fled their homes. We also shut the hotel.
"But the Nigerian Army broke the door and turned the place into a base for its soldiers. We waited for a few months, thinking they would leave, but they didn't leave. My brother advised that I approach them.
"When I got to their barracks at Odogunyan, Ikorodu, I was arrested. I spent 24 hours at the barracks before I was transferred to the Nigerian Navy Base, Apapa. I spent over two months there. They alleged that vandals stayed in my hotel and I must produce them.
"I denied the allegation. They kept me there for over two months and later released me without any charge. I was told that my family spent over N250,000 before I became a free man."
Imhanzuria said while the military continued to stay in Little Palace, they returned the second hotel to the owner, who had political connections.
The hotel lawyer, Okosun, told PUNCH Metro that the soldiers, after converting the hotel into their operational base, consumed assorted wines and food stored in the facility.
PUNCH Metro sighted correspondences among Okosun, the Nigerian Army and the state government over the matter.
Okosun, in a letter dated February 7, 2017, and addressed to the General Officer Commanding, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, called the attention of the GOC to the invasion, saying the hotel management needed an explanation.
The Army, in a letter dated February 23, 2017, and signed by one Colonel S.J.A. Ilori for the GOC, said soldiers had been withdrawn from the facility.
"I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter. I am further directed to inform you that the military personnel deployed in the Little Palace Hotel nicely withdrew for some administrative purposes. Consequently, I am to add that you forward all enquires with regard to the hotel to the Lagos State Government who authorised the use of the facility for the soldiers for the conduct of their operation accordingly," the letter read in part.
Okosun, in a letter to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, demanded investigation into the occupation of the hotel.
"The said hotel is still under lock and key despite the 'nice
