Music House Demolition: It’s An Abuse Of Power- Afenifere
Yoruba socio-cultural group in Oyo State, Afenifere has joined other Nigerians in condemning the demolition of the music studio of Yinka Ayefele in Ibadan saying “it smacks of high-handedness, impunity and abuse of power”.
Afenifere stated this in a statement through its spokesman, Mr Jare Ajayi.
According to the group, the demolition “is condemnable in every manner given the circumstances that surrounded it”.
Afenifere, Oyo State Chapter stated further that “the first reason for our distress has to do with the timing of the demolition. Weekends in Nigeria are normally work-free for government officers except for those on essential duties.
‘To the best of our knowledge, demolishing a house that was not certified to have structural defects is not a thing that could not wait until the day of normal government business which is between Monday and Friday of the week.”
“Secondly, the case was in court over the matter and it is curious that the government which kept imploring the citizens to always follow the rule of law and go to the court rather than taking law into their hands, itself resorted to self-help.”
“Employing self-help is capable of engendering chaos and even violence” the body reiterated”. Afenifere observed that the “government gave the impression that it believes in the rule of law by asking a lawyer to write a letter to Mr Ayefele on the basis of an alleged slanderous statements aired on his radio station.”
Afenifere recalled that in June this year, the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, warned lawyers, surveyors, estate surveyors and all those who have something to do with properties never to use force in an attempt to chase or scare away anyone from their properties. A sanction of as much as N500 million and jail terms were to be imposed on any defaulter.
“One is therefore at pains to understand why the same Oyo State Government would resort to the usage of force to either settle a slanderous case or a violation of building enactment.”
The pan-Yoruba organization claimed that it is this informative in this statement “so that members of the public would be familiar with the details of what we are commenting on and why we are condemning the action in its entirety. We have no doubt that whatever the infraction was could be redressed in a way better than demolishing the building on a Sunday”.
The statement concluded that the government’s action seems to be indicative of the impunity with which many governments in Nigeria are known today in their dealings with the citizens.
“Actions such as the demolition of the Music House are unacceptable to Afenifere Oyo and members of the public. We demand reparation as well as an assurance that such actions that border on an abuse of power would no longer occur in our land,” the group stated.
