Popular comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome aka Alibaba, and his company, XQZMOI TV, have been evicted from his property in Victoria Island property
Popular comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome aka Alibaba, and his company, XQZMOI TV, have been evicted from his property in Victoria Island property in Lagos State.
The eviction was executed by bailiffs of the Federal High Court in Lagos, acting on a writ of possession issued on August 15. It followed a July 31 ruling by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, who dismissed a suit by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, against Harold Expansion Industries Nigeria Limited and upheld Harold Expansion’s counterclaim.
The judgment nullified AMCON’s sale of the property at 324A Akin Ogunlewe Street and ordered its return to the family of the late original owner. AMCON had argued that Harold Expansion Industries owed the defunct Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank) N617 million, stemming from loans restructured in 2008.
The corporation claimed to have sold the property to Ali Baba for N220 million as part of recovery efforts. However, Harold Expansion, represented by lawyer Benjamin Olayiwola Sadibo, denied owing the debt, insisting that repayments had been made since the initial loan in January 2008.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that AMCON failed to present key evidence, including the company’s statement of account, which undermined its case. He ruled that AMCON’s failure to defend the counterclaim entitled Harold Expansion to judgment in its favour.
The court not only ordered the property returned but also awarded N500 million in damages against AMCON.
Records show Ali Baba bought the property in 2021 while the matter was still in court, despite an order restraining AMCON from disposing of it. Before the sale, the comedian, it was gathered, had been a tenant of the late owner, who died soon after his family was evicted. The twin duplexes on the site had served as the production studios of Ali Baba’s XQZMOI TV until the recent eviction.
