Bayelsa: Hotelier issues SWAT notice to quit over N625m debt

A hotelier in Bassambiri Kingdom, Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, over an unpaid debt incurred by the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team deployed to resolve a pre-election crisis in the community.

The lodging debt at a popular facility, Euphemie Motel, was reportedly accumulated by the SWAT team during their operation in the area ahead of the last governorship election.

The SWAT team allegedly occupied Euphemie Motel, turning it into their operational base without the owner’s permission.

ALSO READ: Avoid divorce, equality doesn’t exist in marriage, Toyin Tomato urges women

In a letter dated September 23, 2024, addressed to the IGP, counsel to the motel owner, Inemoye Maxwell Brown Esq., claimed that the 50-bedroom hotel, with a lodging fee of N25,000 per night and two conference halls worth N100,000 per day, was occupied by the SWAT team without payment for over 13 months.

According to Brown, “our client’s business premises and facilities are nearly in complete ruin, and a full renovation is imminent. It is imperative to restore the facilities to resume normal business.”

He further called on the Police IG to “use his good office to direct your men and officers, who had forcefully moved into and occupied our client’s hotel as described from 12th of August, 2023 till date, to immediately vacate within six weeks upon receipt of this correspondence.”

The letter also demanded that “the sum of N625,000,000, covering the period from 12th August 2023 to 12th September 2024, be paid within six weeks upon receipt of this correspondence.”

Brown warned that if the request was not taken seriously, “we shall approach the Court to seek damages for the harm done to the client’s property.”

It should be recalled that a detachment of Mobile Policemen (PMF) and SWAT operatives from Force Headquarters, Abuja, arrived in Opu Nembe last year amid condemnation from stakeholders, indigenes, and politicians ahead of the governorship elections.

The SWAT team’s arrival raised suspicions of selective arrests, though the police authorities claimed that 11 youths, including a POS operator, were arrested.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE