In an exclusive interview with Sahara Reporters over the recent reports making rounds about his alleged arrest over a feud with his landlord and the electricity distributing company, the popular human rights activist and musician, Eedris Abdulkareem said:
“My problem with the landlord is his pervasive and predatory ways. He comes to my house whenever he knows that I am not around (either out of the state or the country), to hit on my wife. He seems obsessed with her, because I don’t understand why he cannot approach me or talk to me whenever the need arises. He accosts her at home and on the streets. He starts off with talking about the house before progressing gradually to his main interest. I have warned him severally to steer clear and stop harassing my wife since my wife dutifully reports all his immoral advances to me. I have also told him severally to come to me or call my number anytime he has anything to discuss about the property to no avail.
Speaking on over the sexual harassment of his wife by the landlord, Mr Oladipo Abimbola the musician said:
“On that fateful day, my landlord probably thought I wasn’t around as I had travelled previously for a show; so he made his moves again using the electricity providers as a ploy. Unfortunately for him, I was upstairs and overheard my wife telling him to stop harassing her because she is a married woman and that she doesn’t tolerate such actions from men. I came downstairs and went into his own side of the property (a twin duplex), through the adjoining gate and gave him a serious tongue lashing and told him that the time has come for me to expose him for who he actually is, a sexual pervert and predator, as he has refused to desist from his sinful ways. I also alluded to the fact that I now understand why he keeps his family very far away from him, so as to have all the rooms needed for his nefarious lifestyle.
This is the truth of the matter.
When queried about his decision to live in a rented apartment rather than in his own house, he said:
“From the moment i realized that my mission in life is to stand for the truth at all times, by speaking truth to authorities of all hues and colours, I also made a personal decision to live a clean, firm and utterly humble life, devoid of materialistic posturing and grandstanding. And this decision was made almost three decades ago. Ever since, I have made it a point of duty not to live in any of my personal properties in line with that oath, and also in tandem with my style of allowing my tenants the freedom to be themselves without an overbearing landlord/lady breathing down their necks.
When asked whether he was arrested by the police according to rumours making rounds in the media, the musician said he was never arrested nor detained by the police, but he was only invited by the police concerning a false report made about him by his landlord.
“When I received a police invitation from the Human Rights office of the Ikeja Area Command, signed by the Area Commander and dated 06-02-2020, inviting me for a chat on Tuesday, February 11, based on my landlord’s claims that I beat him up and threatened his life; I wasted no time in honouring the invitation on the same day the letter was delivered to me on February 7, 2020, because I was appalled by the lies and apparent preemptive haste on the part of my landlord to perhaps, play smart since I have warned him to stop harassing my wife sexually, he said.
“I also told the police about a case involving one of his tenants, a single mother who lives in one of his properties in Mangoro area, who had to arrest and lock him up at a police station in Shasha area of Dopemu, Lagos, over the same issue of harassment. Yes, harassment and invasion of female tenant’s privacy! It’s now left for you to imagine the kind of man I am talking about here, a sexual predator.”
“As a landlord myself, my tenants love and cherish me because of the way I treat them. They rarely see me around.
“The IPO of this particular case was surprised when I and my friend Myke Pam took him to one of my properties which is actually a walking distance from the rented property I occupy. With a demeanour which shows surprise, the inspector gazed at the property which has two massive storey buildings within.
“As a social crusader and a voice for the voiceless, humility has always been my watchword in my personal space, and that is not about to change overnight.
“I am not materialistic, and I have never been one to showcase and flash materialism as an achievement. For me, the best achievement is that which uplifts the people and put smiles on the faces of sad and unhappy, food on the tables of the hungry, and clothes and shelter for the naked and homeless!
That for me, is the ultimate achievement.
“Myke and I actually took the IPO to the nearby property the day he was scheduled to come to inspect the connecting door the landlord claimed I destroyed in my bid to beat him up (another false claim of course, as the IPO found not even a dent on the said door), and yet, the landlord who was present when the appointment made in the presence of the Area Commander the previous day was nowhere to be found, and he even turned off his phone so the IPO couldn’t reach him.
When asked about reports saying he owes electricity providers some financial debt, the musician said:
“As for the issues with electricity providers, that is a war we have already taken on, personally and collectively. Just a cursory look or assessment of my estate will tell you that we depend on our individual generators to provide power, while the electricity providers keep sending in outrageously conceited estimated bills every other month.
“There’s so much coming up concerning the electricity struggle soon. He said.
“For naysayers and doubting Thomases, believe this, I will always be me. I keep my personal life quite, so no one should think they know me. People only know what i allow them to know about me.” The rights activist and musician said.
