Former Ogun State Governor,Otunba Gbenga Daniel and his wife,Olufunke, have described the demolition of their 5-storey DATKEM plaza in Ijebu-Ode, as ‘executive recklessness.’
They put up this assertion on Sunday in a release issued by their lawyer, Mr Adeyinka Kotote (SAN), of PAGE Law office and made available to journalists in Abeokuta.
NOTM online earlier reported that agents of the Ogun government in the early hours of Sunday, demolished DATKEM plaza in Ijebu Ode, belonging to Mrs. Daniel.
According to the release, the legal firm expressed shock that the state government ignored a court order served on its agents on Thursday, September 7, asking them to stop all actions on the building.
“This matter began when the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority agents entered the building premises on August 1 without any prior notice.
“Interestingly, a quit notice was only served on August 31 by the same Planning and Development Authority, asking the owner to vacate the premises within three days.
“However, DATKEM applied for unsealing and regularisation of the building on August 2 and paid the mandatory fee of N500,000 to the Ogun state government. We have evidence of this payment.
“We were shocked and astonished therefore that the Ogun state government ignored the ongoing legal process and went ahead to demolish the complex in the early hours of Sunday. We want to believe that the State Attorney General’s advice was ignored on this matter,” Kotote said.
“Our clients, as law-abiding citizens of Ogun state, will continue to seek redress in the courts. Even when our clients have suffered unimaginable and huge losses as a result of this illegal demolition, we will not relent in pursuing justice in the courts,” he said.
He added that he believed Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun was not informed of this illegality.
“But if he was informed and still decided to use the instrument of the state against our clients, it is nothing but executive recklessness. But we will continue to fight for justice and ensure that our clients get justice,” the release said.
in a reaction, the Ogun government said that DATKEM Plaza, Ijebu-Ode, was an Illegal structure which contravened Ogun Physical Planning laws.
The state government, in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olayiwola Abiodun, said the structure violated the building codes of the state with numerous defects.
He explained that several efforts made by the state government to halt further development on the site were ignored by the developers.
Abiodun said government officials requested the structural engineer in charge of the building to avail the state with the structural equilibrium of the building, a request that was ignored.
He recalled the various incidences of building disasters across the country, adding that the state government would not fold its arm and allow such occurrence.
According to the permanent secretary, what the government did in partially pulling down the defective building was to be proactive.
Abiodun challenged the owners of the structure to produce evidence of government approval in their possession.
He said for a commercial building of that status, there must be parking space to accommodate vehicular traffic within and outside the facility for workers and visitors.
