Police Invite Yakoyo Restaurants Founder, Al-Amin Lukman over Debt and Threat to Life Allegations

By Kayode Adeyemo/LAGOS// Though, Alhaji Al-amin Lukman, founder of Yakoyo Restaurant, feels no remorse about the allegation of threat to life and breach of contract leveled against him by a contractor, Olatunji Suleiman, but the police from the Zone 2 Command has invited him for questioning.

According to SECURITY MONITOR findings, the Yakoyo boss has refused to show up at the police station, a situation that may warrant his arrest and subsequent arraignment.

The crux of the matter is a December 2023 scaffold contract between Suleiman, a Lekki-based scaffold contractor and the Yakoyo owner.

Suleiman was invited for the work by one Biodun Olanrewaju, said to be working for A-amin; upon which Suleiman surveyed the construction site of a multi-story development at 107, Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, opposite the popular Yakoyo restaurant. The scaffolder recommended four (4) months scaffold rental to finish all the work but Biodun insisted on 2 months and asked for the cost, which he said had to be passed to his boss same day.

Biodun and the scaffolder went to his Lekki yard where he estimated the required materials, labour and logistics costs in the presence of Biodun who phoned Lukman Al-Amin, the owner of Yakoyo and the restaurant building project for negotiations with the scaffolder.

Over the phone, Suleiman summarized the cost as N2.4m but Lukman offered 1.5m. No agreement was reached immediately.
Over the next two days, the Yakoyo boss bargained for the quote to be reduced from N2.8m (with net) for the initial two months and eventually offered to pay N2m, broken down as N1.6m (at N800k/month rent for two months) for pipes and clamps, and N400k for net, labor and logistics. Suleiman knew N2m wouldn’t do the job. But knowing that the work required more than two months scaffold rental to be completed, and that he would recover by month 4, he conceded N800k or 35% at the time and agreed to N2m to win the job.

Lukman paid N1.5m on 11 December 2023, N100k short of the N1.6m sum quoted for mobilization but Suleiman let it pass and commenced.

Materials delivery and installation proceeded by Suleiman’s crew and was completed 20 December 2023, ahead of the two (2) weeks promised for delivery and installation. Mr Lawal Olayiwola, Lukman’s foreman at the site acknowledged material delivery and certified the erected scaffold okay before it was commissioned for use.

By 24 December 2023, he had not received the 500k outstanding that was due upon commissioning, so Suleiman messaged Biodun to the effect that scaffold had been commissioned four (4) days earlier with only net remaining which could not be done without the balance. He reminded Biodun that full rent for scaffold was due upfront (which was underpaid by NN100k by Yakoyo) and that the delay in payment had stopped workers from finishing up and exiting the site. He also reminded that the rental period was to start next day, 25 December, and that contract needed to be signed to protect both parties. He appealed to Biodun to prevail on his boss to do the needful so workers could be settled as it was unfair to keep everybody hanging as had then happened for 4 days. Biodun gave him lukman’s number (07080198289) to contact directly.

Suleiman promptly sent Lukman pictures of the completed structure. Lukman acknowledged with the message, “Thanks so much sir”. Suleiman followed up same day with scaffold rental contract for the Yakoyo boss to execute and to for pay N500,000 balance as agreed.

After several unheeded demands and reminders, Biodun invited Suleiman to Lukman’s Lekki home on 27 December 2023 to meet him for payment of the balance and execution of the contract. But Lukman refused to sign the contract despite not objecting to any term thereof. His excuse was that such signing should be done by his Ogunlana Drive, Surulere eatery manager, one Aiyegbege. He then directed Biodun to give the contract that he called “this paper” to Aiyegbege to sign and return to Suleiman.

He also didn’t pay the N500k balance, saying he had no money and promising to pay same week. But he didn’t fulfill his promise. He only paid a week later on 6 January, causing Suleiman loss from having to pay more for net work that should have been done as part of the erection work by the installation crew.

Biodun later extricated himself from the contract signing by asking Suleiman to meet Aiyegbege directly. But the eatery manager was never available every time Suleiman sought to meet him. He also didn’t leave a signed copy for the contractor as requested.

Sensing deliberate refusal to sign as strategy to frustrate contract through deflection, delay and evasion, Suleiman resorted to sending agreed terms, bills, expiry dates, payment demands and acknowledgments, notices of outstanding payments and balances, and other details and records of the transaction to Lukman by WhatsApp, and sometimes also Biodun, to avert doubt in the event of dispute.

Lukman himself later physically assessed the scaffold and demanded additional netting and adjustments, all of which Suleiman did without charges despite extra cost to him.

Other additions and adjustments were demanded by Lukman acting through calls and messages from Biodun (08077575596), Lawal (08023082610) and/or his mason, one Ola (07050375876 and 08183819608) throughout the rental period that should ordinarily be charged as maintenance and extra work but which Suleiman was forced to provide free of charge.

It is worth noting at this juncture that late payments, contrary to agreed terms and standard practice, became the Yakoyo owner’s hallmark. Scaffold, like other rentals, is always prepaid for but he defaulted throughout the engagement and never paid on the due date of any billing cycle, which is the 17th day of the month.

Screenshots of the exchanges between Suleiman and Lukman and Biodun, showing repeated demands, appeals and reminders for Lukman to pay were sighted by Security Monitor.

Ultimately, due to poor project management and funding delays by Lukman, the exterior works for which the scaffold was rented lasted six months, beyond even Suleiman’s expectation, but to which he was obliged on Lukman’s promises to eventually pay all accruals.

Surprisingly, well into month 6, Biodun called Suleiman and informed him that Lukman complained that the monthly rental rate of N800k was too much and demanded that Suleiman reduced it to N500k. To this, Suleiman responded, “if I have been eating at your eatery and had bought five meals for N8,000 and was served the sixth for same price, but while eating it (and because I managed to not have prepaid at the counter), I decide that the food is too expensive and ask that you reduce the price for me to N5,000 for the half-eaten food, how will you react?” Biodun had no answer.

Suleiman then wrote a response through WhatsApp to similar effect, declining the strange suggestion to Lukman and copied Biodun for record purposes.

At this point, by the end of month 6, Lukman had 400k outstanding that had been more than 30 days past due which he had tried to evade by the bizarre attempt to reduce the monthly rental price.

By this time it was understood that the scaffold would be decommissioned and removed at the end of month six on 24th June. But seeing as such understanding on removal was not the first that never was (2 months rental became 4 months and later 6), Suleiman called to confirm from site foreman Lawal if workers should come to remove on 25 June to which he said no, and informed that the scaffold was needed for one more week.

Consequently, Suleiman again messaged Lukman that in view of the new development, N800k monthly rental would be prorated weekly and then demanded that 200k for the extra week be added to the outstanding 400k and paid immediately. He got no response from Lukman as usual and so copied Biodun.

Later, on 27 June, Biodun called to complain that the scaffold should have been removed on 25th June. Suleiman explained that Lawal communicated the request for one (1) extra week and that since both he (Biodun), Lawal and Ola, the Mason had been delivering the Yakoyo boss’s instructions and Lawal had related more site-specific requests e.g. for scaffold amendments and maintenance, he could not disregard Lawal’s instruction; which was why he messaged Lukman and himself earlier. Biodun then requested that Suleiman forgo the N200k charge for the extra week which he declined unless the scaffold is to be removed that day or next. Biodun nevertheless instructed Suleiman to remove the scaffold the next Tuesday, 2nd July, the expiry of the extra week that Lawal had requested.

By this time, it was apparent to Suleiman that the Yakowo boss was hiding behind his staff to issue contradictory instructions as part of his earlier efforts to short pay, so he messaged him again and demanded final payment of 600k to mobilize workers and logistics for scaffold removal on 2nd July.
Failing to get payment as due to fund the removal, Suleiman messaged Lukman again on WhatsApp that having refused to pay outstanding balance, rental will be charged from 2 July at the prorated daily rate of N26,666.67 plus interest as stipulated in his contract until all outstanding balance, accruing daily rental charges and interest are paid in full, adding that as of that default date, Lukman’s debt stood at 626,666.67 plus interest to be computed later.

This time, Lukman replied, saying “You’re doing yourself, not me.”

Moments after, Suleiman got a call from Biodun who informed him of Lukman’s anger and complaint about Suleiman’s insistence on being paid in full. He then suggested that Suleiman accepts 400k and forgoes everything else in the interest of peace as according to him, Lukman “is very angry”. To this, Suleiman responded that Biodun to tell his boss to pay N400k.

Receiving none of N400k outstanding from month 6, N200k for the one extra week or N26,666.7 for the first day of assessed default by July 2, Suleiman messaged Lukman again on July 3 to the effect that it was Day 2 of default which had been charged N26,666.67, so he should pay N653,333.34 immediately to avert further charges and/or escalation.

Lukman’s response to this last message was an uncensored, blood-curdling WhatsApp voice note! Speaking in Yoruba, he said what roughly translates to “If you like, if you know you can handle trouble, if you know trouble and know how to handle it, if you are comfortable with trouble, leave that scaffold. Thank God I didn’t sign contract with you. You will be guilty before yourself and before God. You will learn that there are those who can take human life. It’s not only God that takes human life. If you like leave that scaffold there. Dont go and remove it. Be sending me message that your rental charge is N26,000 per day.”

Suleiman responded with WhatsApp chat Lukman’s voice message was a threat to life. And that he was neither looking for trouble nor fighting with Lukman and was not begging him for money, but had provided him scaffolding service and earned his pay. And that Lukman should pay his debt and stop passing insults and also desist from issuing death threats.

Shortly after, Lukman called Suleiman and started to pronounce curses and mouth incantations. Suleiman quickly dropped the call. The amala vendor had never called the scaffolder before. But this time, he rang back, twice, which Suleiman ignored. Then he messaged, “Pick your call. I don’t have time to be send message” in response to which Suleiman prompted him to type his message as he also had no time to listen to curses.

Suleiman’s response ostensibly angered Lukman more. His comeback was, “I won’t type if you (sic, have) the mind (read guts) pick up call. You’re a rippers.”
For a seemingly reticent customer who had ignored his contractor six months, the transformation was dramatic. He posted other messages, “I give you today and tomorrow to go remove your property if not you won’t like yourself. If I paid you 1kobo call me a bastard.”

The exchange was chilling, disturbing and illuminating on the Yakoyo boss’s character all at once.

Undeterred, Suleiman messaged Lukman again that he had been charged the daily rate of N26,666.67 for Day 3 of default and so owed N680,000.1 and should pay up.

To summarize, Alhaji Lukman Al-Amin, owner of popular amala joint, Yakoyo, with outlets in Surulere and Lekki, Lagos and Abuja, contracted the services of Mr Suleiman, a Lekki scaffold contractor, in December 2023, defaulted on his payment obligations over six months (6), one (1) week, and three (3) days, up until 4 June 2024, and thereby accrued N680,000.01 debt for services rendered towards the building of his restaurant on Ogunlana Drive, Surulere; then denounced then debt, promised trouble for the vendor and issued him a death threat in July 2024.

The scaffold contractor accordingly reported the matter to the office of the AIG of police, Zone 2 Headquarters in Onikan, Lagos on Friday, 5 July 2024.

In his reaction to SECURITY MONITOR via telephone conversation, Al-amin said he will not pay the scaffolder any further money since according to him he assumed he should be entitled to discount from the scaffolder.