Concerns Mount over Indiscriminate Increase of House Rent in Kogi 

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

Worried by the unholy alliance between the shylock landlords and the so-called estate agents  or managers who are indiscriminately increasing the house rents in Kogi State, concerns are mounting as tenants in the state capital have appealed to the state government to prevail on Landlords and agents to stop the astronomical hikes in house rents.

This appeal was made during a Radio Kogi Live Programme monitor in Lokoja where they called on the state government to as matter of urgency Intervene by closing the gap on housing deficit,  investing on the Housing Estates  and also emulate Lagos State on the rent matters.

As it is today in Lokoja the state capital, the low level civil servants and ordinary folks cannot afford to get accommodation following the astronomical rent increases. 

For instance a room and parlour which used to be  N200,000 is now N650,0000,while a self-contained single room now cost between N250,000 to N300,000  depending on locations and available facilities.
The participants on the programme begged the governor to checkmate the shylock landlords and atrocities of  so called agents who are conniving together to manipulate the tenants on yearly basis.

They lamented that the rate at which housing rent is being increased in the state is no longer bearable as the  landlords making life more difficult for them .
The tenants urged the government to make law regulating the landlord and tenants relationship by empowering State House of Assembly to domesticate rent edict

They also called on the present administration to emulate , ex- governors, Abubakar Audu, Ibrahim Idris and Captain  Idris Wada who at one time or the other have established many housing estates to address housing  deficit in the state.
The tenants bemoaned the ever increasing rents of the facilities that have built over years ago as the landlords still  complained of costs of building materials.

They also attributed the increase to the activities of the Yahoo boys who are ready to pay any amount to get accommodations, stressing that some  landlords preferred the to get fat rents from Yahoo boys .
Speaking at programme, an Estate Surveyor, Elder Ekundayo Ayodele, explained that another factor responsible for the rent increase is the influx of the people to state, particularly the state capital.

Ayodele pointed out that it is not all agents are registered or qualified Estate Surveyor and Valuers.
The House of Assembly member representing Ajaokuta State Constituency, Jibrin Abu explained that the previous administration in collaboration federal government and Federal Mortgage Bank have once addressed the issue of housing deficit in Lokoja .

Abu frowned at indiscriminate increase in the rent of the old houses, noting that the house is making frantic efforts to ensure that accommodations are provided at affordable rate  to everyone in the state .

The landlords especially those civil servants who had taken advantages during the formatives years of the State to build houses, are not helping the matters after their retirement by relying solely on the rents from their property.
They were allegedly involved in the increased in the rents of their various property build thirty years ago .

They were said to have caused a lot of crisis to many families by forcefully ejecting their tenants with increase of the rent.
They are also accused of aiding and abetting the Yahoo boys whose the source of income are questionable. 
They were said to have always preferred to give accommodations to the Yahoo boys who are ready to pay any amount at any point in time.