By Elite Lagos cemetery taken over after owners used edifice as collateral for unpaid loan
Ghazali Ibrahim
Vaults and Garden, one of Nigeria’s most popular private cemetery, has been locked by a financial institution after its owner failed to pay a mortgage debt.
It was gathered that the cemetery located in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos was used as a collateral for the loan. BlackBox Nigeria couldn’t confirm the name of the involved financial institution at the time of writing this report.
A notice with the inscription “CAVEAT EMPTOR” meaning ‘Buyers Beware’ has been hanged at the entrance of the building, according to pictures which surfaced on social media.
The message reads, “Kindly note that this property and its entire appurtenances are subject to receivership under the duly appointed receiver/manager.
“The public is hereby warned to cease and desist from dealing with any third party apart from the duly appointed receiver/manager.”
Vault and Garden Cemetery was built in 2006 by Ade Ogundeyin who is the founder and Group Managing Director of O’la-kleen Holdings, Proforce (Defence) Limited. It was commissioned by the then Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu.
The cemetery has spaces for the wealthy which starts from N50 million and above while the super-wealthy spot costs around N150 million above.
