Residents of Irewolede Estate in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, who were evicted from their homes, have gone to court to challenge the action of the state government.
They were evicted for failing to complete payment of mortgages on their houses within the time stipulated by the Ayo Fayose administration.
But they were saved by the intervention of traditional rulers and the state’s prominent indigenes, who pleaded on their behalf after which government granted an extension of three months within which to complete their payment.
The embattled estate residents now have up to November 30 to pay up or face a fresh eviction exercise expected to begin on December 1.
In a suit filed by their counsel Rafiu Balogun at an Ado-Ekiti High Court, the Irewolede Estate Landlords through their chairman Ayo Orebe and 17 others are seeking an order for the payment of N20 million as aggravated and exemplary damages for trespass, humiliation, assault and degrading treatment meted out to them by the defendants.
The defendants/respondents in the suit are the Attorney General of Ekiti State (first), Ekiti State Housing Corporation (second), Ekiti State Commissioner of Police (third) and Ekiti State Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (fourth).
Attached to the Writ of Summons are relevant documents like receipts of initial deposits, letters of provisional allocation of houses to claimants by the housing corporation and applications for mortgage loans.
The claimants are also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants either by themselves or by their agents, servants, workers, officers and men of the third and fourth defendants from ejecting or further disturbing them as they have not committed any breach of purchase/mortgage agreement until the agreement is determined by court.
Another relief sought is a declaration that the acts of Ekiti State Government and second defendant by forcibly entering into the estate, assaulting the claimants, locking them out using the officers and men of the third and fourth defendants and political thugs amount to breach of context and tortuous acts of assault and trespass.
They equally prayed the court for a declaration that the purchase/mortgage agreement entered into with the second defendant in respect of their houses located in the estate as contained in their respective letters of offer is subsisting and government and housing corporation are duty bound to honour same.
In the statement on oath of the first claimant (Orebe), he averred that house owners were requested to pay the total costs of the houses within the period ranging from five to 15 years from the day offer letters were written to them by the second defendant.
He added that house owners have not even exhausted the initial period of five years within which to pay up let alone asking for an extension of another five years as provided for in the letters of offer.
Orebe said: “I know that we were flabbergasted and rattled when the present administration under the leadership of Governor Ayo Fayose summoned us for a meeting and handed down a strong warning to us that we must pay up all the purchase prices within a period of one month or face dire and terrible consequences of ejection.
“I know that Mr. Governor also went on air both at the state radio and television stations to embarrass all of us by saying publicly that we are occupying our houses free of charge. This was done to deliberately to incite Ekiti people against us and expose us to ridicule and hatred.
“I know that the state government started making good its threat when Governor Fayose ordered the invasion of the estate by armed policemen, civil defence officers and political thugs on August 5th and 6th, 2015, who sealed some houses and harassed occupants.
“The situation was so bad that my four-day-old baby and his mother, my wife, were locked up inside my house and the keys were taken away.”