Ulegun illegal demolition: Court orders remand of Secretary of Benin Traditional Council, Irabor, others in prison

An Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City has remanded the Secretary of Benin Traditional Council, Mr. Frank Irabor and other chiefs in prison custody.

The defendants are facing prosecution for their involvement in the illegal demolition of over 80 houses in Ulegun Community, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

They were arrested on Wednesday by the Edo State Police Command and charged to court today, Thursday, September 1, 2022.

Hon. Justice Mary Itsueli of the Edo State High Court ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Oko maximum prison pending receipt of legal advice by the director of public prosecution.

Their arrest and subsequent prosecution by the police followed several protests and pleas by the community for justice for the illegal destruction of their property worth millions of naira, as well as alleged intimidation, harassment and disregard for the rule of law.

The community had, Monday, protested the alleged demolition of several houses in their community, as well as arrest and maiming of their Village Head (Enogie), Sunday Eghosasere Omoregie, and the community’s Chief Priest (Ohen), Philip Uwuoroya, by a group of chiefs, led by Frank Irabor.

The protesters made up of land developers, women, leaders and youths in the community, among others, took their protest to the Government House, where they called on the state government to intervene and rescue them from the hands of those they described as “tormentors.”

The community lamented that the dastardly act prosecuted by Frank Irabor and his co-travelers has left many residents homeless, inflicting pains and sufferings on the people, expressing worry that the state may soon plunge into crisis if nothing is done to curtail these excesses and penchant for illegality.

PHOTO CAPTION

Secretary of the Benin Traditional Council, Mr. Frank Irabor (in sky blue native) being led by security operatives to Oko Maximum Prison, after he was remanded along with other defendants by an Edo State High Court, Benin City on Thursday, September 1, 2022.