I haven't the slightest idea whether Yinka Aiyefele's building contravened town planning regulations or not.

Or even whether the contraventions, if they existed, were such as to warrant the demolition of his building, with or without a court order.

But this at least is in the public domain; that two days ago, Mr Aiyefele approached the Oyo State High Court seeking injunctive reliefs against the Oyo State Government in respect of the building it wanted to demolish. The Oyo State Government was aware that an injunction was being sought specifically restraining it from demolishing Aiyefele's building as planned. And that is all that matters.

It does not matter that Yinka Aiyefele is wheelchair bound or that he spent a lot of money to put up his building and to equip it.

It does not matter that the State Government has a beef with him on account of his allegedly turning his radio station into a hotbed of opposition politics.

It does not matter that he is allegedly being singled out among all the other conjectured contraveners of Oyo State town planning laws.

It does not even matter whether the Oyo State government eventually proves in court that Aiyefele's building was in fact in contravention of its town planning laws.

And it does not matter, listen well, that the ex parte order being sought had not been in fact given by the court before the state acted swiftly to forestall it

An injunction was being sought in court. The court had put itself in readiness to hear the application seeking it. The state was aware that the application was to be heard. And the state acted swiftly to render whatever judgement was eventually rendered nugatory.

The Oyo State Government is itself a creation of the law, mandated and empowered under the constitution to enforce the will of the state as expressed in its laws, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW. To ostensibly 'enforce' the law in defiance of the restraining powers of the judiciary is itself an exercise in tyrannical power and makes nonsense of the rule of law and the legitimacy of the state government itself. Section 6 of the Constitution establishes the powers of the judiciary and its jurisdiction in disputes between citizen and state, and of the duty of the state under the said Section 6, late Justice Kayode Eso had this to say in the case of Ojukwu v Lagos State Military Government:

"The Military Government had the power and still has to put an end to the existence of that provision, It has not done so, and that must have been advisedly for it does intend that the rule of law should pervade. It is the clearest indication against rule by Tyranny, by sheer force of arms against a presumption subjecting the nation to the rule of might as against rule of right. ......Another very important matter emanating from the act of the applicants. They have no right to take the matter into their own hands once the court was seised of it. The essence of rule of law is that it should never operate under the rule of force or fear. To use force to effect an act and while under the marshall of that force, seek the court’s equity, is an attempt to infuse timidity into court and operate a sabotage of the cherished rule of law. It must never be." If th court could make a case for the practical observance of the rule of law under a military government, the flouting of such basic norms under a democratic government must not be countenanced by anyone, regardless of party affiliation. The risks of passivity are too great

Ojukwu's case had similarities with Aiyefele's case in that the military government of the day was claiming Ojukwu's father's house in Lagos was 'abandoned property' and that therefore they had a right to evict him and his family members from it. But they did so while a court order restraining them was being sought by Ojukwu:

''One serious point brought before the Court of Appeal was that since the notice of leave to appeal was filed and served on the Lagos State Government, the Government resorted into what they termed self help and evicted Ojukwu notwithstanding the fact that his application was pending before the Court of Appeal. The Lagos State Government used “some one hundred and fifty armed men” to evict Ojukwu, even when his suit was pending in the High Court and his application was before the Court of Appeal traced the history of such forcible eviction from time of Richard II in England and dealt with the position of the law in this country. And after a thorough investigation of the law in regard to which, I would respectfully commend the learned Justice for his industry; he came to the conclusion that the right of self-help ended when the issues were turned over to the Court. The Court then ordered that Ojukwu be reinstated into the property, following the forcible ejection which the Lagos State Government termed self-help. Now, and this is important. The Lagos State Government refused to comply with this order of the Court of Appeal. ''

Would a little patience have hurt the Oyo State Government if indeed it has a solid case against Aiyefele? If it had gone to court and proven that Aiyefele's building was in contravention of its planning policy and that it deserved to be demolished, yes there would still be political noise, but it would be noise that could be rightfully ignored because it would be enforcing the law. As it is, it has put itself in a position where it is clear that all it is engaged in is a demonstration of government might against a helpless citizen, regrdles of the rights and wrongs of the matter.

Shame on Konstituted Authority. Shame on his Commissioner of Justice or whoever is supposed to advice him in these matters. And shame on anyone who musters up the temerity to justify this náked display of state brigandage.

© Peter Oshun

very bad. God may seem slow in action, but He adequately rewards evry bits of injustice.

God will judge every of our actions whether good or evil.

See this issue have been on for more than 5 years. Ajiboye clearly stated it that there were some unapproved structure within the building. Ayefele was leveraging on the of support of Lere Olayinka his brother and Ekiti State governor, Fayose.. He refused to normalise it.
Instead of doing the right thing, he always run to the press using the e warriors loyal to Ekiti government as a way of wipping public sentiment. As you can see since last week when the last notice was sent to him, he did nothing believing, nothing will happen.
Since Fayose is now in pain and Lere is on a cross road. it's now everyone on his own., God for all of us.
Don't forget it's in front of that building one of his staff was knocked down on the Eve of New year. The building was dangerous located without set back to the road.
God will console him. The lesson is that always separate your business from political leanings, remember Savannah bank and Obasanjo.

I don't understand why u guys are just ranting about his demolished property, yes we know it is saddening, but hundreds of properties are been demolished everyday, no one seems to complain, e.g Lagos, just because he is popular or what, then it becomes an issue.
The govt has every right to demolish a structure it deems illegal, or obstructing development, even if you have your papers, you will only be compensated.

dulux07:
I don't understand why u guys are just ranting about his demolished property, yes we know it is saddening, but hundreds of properties are been demolished everyday, no one seems to complain, e.g Lagos, just because he is popular or what, then it becomes an issue.
The govt has every right to demolish a structure it deems illegal, or obstructing development, even if you have your papers, you will only be compensated.

exactly!!!..so because ayefele is popular....we should cry?.. where was OP when thousand of houses were demolished in Lagos doing fashola regime...during ribadu regime at abj.....poor mans house...you won't talk..but you want to use ayefele to get sympathy....abeg go fry water

babyfaceafrica:
exactly!!!..so because ayefele is popular....we should cry?.. where was OP when thousand of houses were demolished in Lagos doing fashola regime...during ribadu regime at abj.....poor mans house...you won't talk..but you want to use ayefele to get sympathy....abeg go fry water

I can't choose what you and the person you quoted should advocate for. If this is what I have chosen to advocate for, allow me to do it. If you want to advocate for those whose properties were demolished in Lagos and Abuja, do yours too.

babyfaceafrica:
exactly!!!..so because ayefele is popular....we should cry?.. where was OP when thousand of houses were demolished in Lagos doing fashola regime...during ribadu regime at abj.....poor mans house...you won't talk..but you want to use ayefele to get sympathy....abeg go fry water

I tire o, dont mind them jare, even ambode regime sef.