The day I had to evict my own childhood friend from his home

Back in 2004, I was still a fresh magistrate in Ikeja. My first landlord-tenant dispute came across my desk. Simple case, landlord wanted possession, tenant hadn't paid rent in 8 months. Open and shut, I thought.

Then I looked at the case file properly. The tenant's name was Emeka Okonkwo. Same Emeka I grew up with on Opebi Road. Same Emeka who used to share his akara with me during break time at Ikeja Grammar School.

My heart dropped. I called him to my chambers after hours. He came in looking tired, shirt frayed at the collar. He said, "Joe, I know I should have told you. But I was ashamed. My business collapsed last year. I have three children and a wife. I have nowhere to go."

I sat there for a long time. The law was clear. Section 7 of the Tenancy Law says if a tenant is in arrears for 6 months, the landlord has a right to possession. But this was my brother. The same boy who carried me to the clinic when I fell from a mango tree in 1987.

In the end, I recused myself from the case. I couldn't preside over it. I told the chief judge everything. He reassigned it. Emeka was evicted three weeks later. I paid his first year's rent in a new place in Agege. He never spoke to me again after that day.

Some people think the law is just words on paper. But when the law forces you to choose between justice and friendship, you realise the law doesn't care about your tears. It just cares about what is written. I still think about Emeka sometimes. I pray he has forgiven me.