Benue Firm Threatens To Sell Defaulters’ Houses

The managing director, Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC), Dr. Raymond Asemakaha has threatened to sell off the houses of defaulters of the North Bank and Nyiman Estates in Makurdi to recover the money and pay same to the federal mortgage bank from whom the company got the facility.

Asemakaha, who made his views known during a visit to the state, said the company had foreclosed the agreement with the allottees of the two estates and would henceforth sell off the houses of the defaulters to recover the money

Asemakaha said the 2007 loan agreement has attracted interest at the company’s expense, saying, the company is on the verge of losing a good credit score with the federal mortgage, warning that “not under my management will the reputation of the company go down because i will ensure that the defaulters pay or stand the risk of eviction”

“Why would the allottees after 15 years claimed not to have the financial capacity to pay the company, as at the time when the interest was four per cent. Today, it has risen to over 35 per cent and is causing the company a huge amount of service annually. We can’t take this anymore,” he said.

Asemakaha also directed for the publication of the names of defaulters billed for foreclosure as from this week, saying, the company has initiated the court’s order and no leniency will be granted to any allottee.

On behalf of North Bank Estate EXCO, the chairman Victor Asobo and Joseph Ornguga Antyam appealed for more time for defaulters of the estate to pay.

They attributed the delay in the repayment to economic difficulties and appealed for a grace period of four months to enable them to make up the payment.

At the Nyiman Estate, the chairman, Raphael Abo, while appreciating the BIPC for giving the allottees time to pay back, appealed for more time.

He said the EXCO will communicate the decision of the company to members who are yet to complete their payments with a view of getting them to comply.