Sterling Bank, Dunlop Tyres battle over property

What used to be a cordial relationship between Dunlop Nigeria Tyres and Rubber Plc and Sterling Bank Plc has suddenly turned sour based on a faulty transaction and land disputes as the two have embarked on a showdown to claim what appears to them as their individual right.

There are reports that when Dunlop was having financial crisis, it sold out a portion of its land located on Oba Akran road, Ikeja, Lagos, to the bank as part of agreement to liquidate a loan granted the company by the bank.

Report has it that Dunlop sold the land in 2009 to the bank to settle its debt. But in 2010, the company wrote the bank seeking to reverse the sale of the land. It complained in the letter that it would need land for production purposes.

Dunlop urged the bank to apply for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Intervention Fund to the manufacturing sector on its behalf, but the bank, we gathered, turned down its request.

Hence, as time passed by, the bank which is bent on getting its monies back sold out the land to a church identified as Triumphant Christian Centre who now currently runs its religious services there.

With the matter now in court, Dunlop is claiming the sale of the land to the church is in contrary to a land lease agreement between the company and Sterling bank.

As the matter stands, the bank through its corporate communications department said it has asked its lawyers to withdraw the case from court but Dunlop believes the case is still in court and judgment may be delivered very soon in its favour.