Great Nigeria Insurance clarifies position on fire incident at GNI House, Lagos

Nike Popoola

Great Nigeria Insurance Plc (GNI) has released an official statement following the fire incident at GNI House, located at 47/57 Martins Street, Lagos Island, which occurred over the Christmas break. The company expressed sympathy to everyone affected by the incident.

In the statement, GNI clarified that it had a long lease agreement with the Shitta-Bey family for the Martins Street property, which is set to expire on December 31, 2036. The company had constructed a 25-storey building on the site for strategic investment purposes.

GNI highlighted a long-standing legal dispute with the Shitta-Bey family, noting that the family had previously initiated multiple suits against the company, all of which were decided in GNI’s favour. However, during the pendency of appeals in 2020, the family allegedly took over the property without legal consent and leased it to third-party tenants.

“GNI has for over five years been denied physical possession of the property. Our company neither has any dealings with the management nor with any of the tenants occupying the property for these years,” the statement read.

The company reassured the public and its stakeholders that the fire has not affected its operations, noting that GNI does not maintain any offices in the burnt building. Its head office remains at No. 8 Omo Osagie Street, Off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and the company continues to conduct business at this location and its branches nationwide.

GNI thanked its customers and stakeholders for their concern and urged the public to note that the incident does not impact the company’s services.