Court halts further demolition of Saraki’s property

A Kwara State High Court has issued an ex-parte injunction restraining the Kwara State Government from further demolition of late Olusola Saraki’s property.

Recall that in the last few days, the demolition of Ile Arugbo which served as the political home of the late Kwara politician sparked off mixed reactions.

In the judgement delivered in Ilorin on Monday January 6, the Kwara state government was ordered not to go near the land “either to construct or do anything on the land pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.”

However one of the Saraki’s family’s lawyers, Abdulazeez Ibrahim told The Nation that the court injunction is yet to be served to the parties involved because it was obtained almost at the close of work on Monday.

He said;

“It was true that we secured a court injunction against the state government, but it took place at the closing hours, so no enroll order was available for the concerned parties.”

The Kwara State Government also confirmed that it has not been served the court order. Also making a clarification on the controversial demolition, the state’s Communication Commissioner, Murtala Olanrewaju told Premium Times that the demolished building was used for political gathering and “not any home belonging to old people”.

He said;

“Contrary to the claims by the opposition, the physical reclamation of the property by the government on 2 January 2020 was without any incident. Nobody was met on the property. It was never a place where people lived in, so the question of ejecting, maltreating or deploying violence against anyone did not arise. No court process has been served on the government.

“The whole narrative about government demolishing old people’s home was a fabrication by the opposition to cover up for their lack of any document confirming their ownership of the property bordering the civil service clinic in Ilorin, the state capital.
“The property is one of the over 100 government assets in GRA, Ilorin Kwara State, Victoria Island Lagos, Kaduna, and Abuja investigated by the Asset Recovery Committee led by Senator Suleiman Ajadi, which were unlawfully converted to private use. Until its physical reclamation, the property comprised only of sheds.”