Mrs. Olufunke Daniel, wife of former Ogun Gov. Gbenga Daniel, has accused the Ogun government of executive recklessness in demolishing her 5-story DATKEM plaza in Ijebu-Ode.
Mrs. Daniel made this statement on Sunday in a press release issued by her lawyer, Mr. Adeyinka Kotote (SAN), of PAGE Law office and made available to Abeokuta newsmen.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), agents of the Ogun government demolished Mrs. Daniel’s DATKEM plaza in Ijebu Ode in the early hours of Sunday.
According to the announcement, the legal company was astounded that the state government disobeyed a court order delivered to its agents on Thursday, September 7, ordering them to halt all work 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 went on to say that he believed Ogun Governor Dapo Abiodun was unaware of the crime.
“However, if he was informed and still chose to use the state’s instrument against our clients, that is executive recklessness.” “However, we will continue to fight for justice and ensure that our clients receive justice,” according to the announcement.
In response, the Ogun government stated that the DATKEM Plaza in Ijebu-Ode was an illegal structure that violated Ogun Physical Planning laws.
The state government said in a statement signed by Olayiwola Abiodun, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, that the structure breached state building rules and had various flaws.
Abiodun revealed that the developers ignored multiple requests by the state government to prohibit additional development on the land.
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