The spending power of most Nigerians have been hugely affected by the current economic situation in the country and topping the list is the fuel and naira crises ripping through the country.
While many Nigerians have had to either forgo their needs and wants in the face of this harsh economic realities, it’s a different story for internet fraudsters otherwise called “Yahoo Boys”, in Nigeria.
This category of people who make a living duping other people on the internet have given themselves a reputation of living lifestyles which does not reflect the current economy realities.
Majorly across cities, a large section of Nigerians have raised their voices to condemn the manner at which this category of people spend on acquiring or renting accommodate facilities.
According to findings by Punch Metro, some carefree house owners now prefer to rent or sell their properties to yahoo boys who they believe would pay more than required to acquire their listed properties.
Narrating his ordeal, an Akure resident, identified as Ayomide Olalekan, told our correspondent that he finds the development pretty disturbing.
He said, “I find it very disturbing that house owners would prefer to rent their properties to people with dubious characters and questionable means of making money.
“I had to go the extra mile to find myself an accomodations because the one I saw and was interested in came with huge budget which was significantly higher than what should have been demanded for”.
Sharing a same opinion, another resident, Obakunle Love, told this publication because of ‘Yahoo Boys’, landlords and agents have upped their rates.
“I had to give up my chase to get a new apartment in 2022 for my family because we needed a much larger space to accommodate my growing family.
“The figures which these agents and landlords keep giving us was just too much as it doesn’t reflect the present economic realities of the country. And the influence of Yahoo boys who keeps paying for these houses at any given price makes it more difficult for the ordinary Nigerian to get accomodation”.
Ayokunlemi Oladapo, while recounting his experience said, ” I ended up paying 500,000 naira for a self contain apartment in Lagos and I really find this very disturbing that the ordinary Nigerians are constantly been priced out of acquiring accomodations because of the untamed spending spree of a category of people who makes their living making others cry.”
In an interview culled from The PUNCH, Mrs Janet Akinyele, stated, ““The situation is getting worse. Nobody wants to think about how we eat again; all they are concerned about is money. They just decide to increase without thinking of the poor. Where I am with my family now, we are just managing the place; we have yet to get money to rent another place, and I just came here to see the agent with faith and the amount he is telling me, I don’t know how to go about it.
“But these Yahoo boys, when you tell them any amount, they are ready to pay. I am tired and there is nowhere I will run to except God have mercy on me. When they increase the rent and we are unable to pay, they will now be on our nerves and start asking us to pack out. When you hear the amount for renting a house here, you will be shocked that it’s not like that before. You will hear a house of N300,000, before you know it, those boys have rented it,” she lamented.
While many have accused the house agents of deliberately inflating these fees, a house agent in Akure, Ondo State, Ayoola Raphael, attributed this situation to the greedy nature of some landlords who think they can recoup the cost of building the facilities within a very short period of time.
“Sincerely some landlord are just greedy and self-centered,they believe they could make the money they used to build the place swiftly, but it doesn’t work that way,that’s why the hostel I care-take I always advise landlord on issues relating when ever there is an opinion of increase and they understand me.
“Most house rent are cheap but the annual utility charges hike them example: most landlord add (LIGHT BILL,SECURITY BILL, CLEANING BILL) so by the time you accumulate them you would think the landlord is not NICE, in other words,we can’t also blame them much cause the inflation in prices of building materials and building maintenance increases on daily basis.” He said.
Also another house agent who pleaded anonymity said that most landlord do not care especially when the landlord are not living in the building they have listed for acquisition. All they want is to get their money.
“For most property owners, all they care for is the highest bidder, they do not care about the source of income of the person seeking to rent their facilities and this is most common with owners who do not reside in the building they want to rest.
“Also, some of my mates (agents), are greedy and are always looking to make money as much as they can from every transactions and it’s really sad”.
Also, a house owner who preferred to remain anonymous stated that he goes an extra mile to check the source of income of anyone coming to rent his properties as he won’t want a situation whereby his family is jeopardized because of the fraudulent activities of his tenants.
“I go the extra mile to check the background of my tenants, this is because my family lives here with me and I won’t want any of these yahoo boys to cause my family any harm.”
