The Lagos State Government on Thursday said the demolition of a workshop it recently carried out in Ikeja, was in accordance with a valid court order.
The workshop on Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, was demolished by the Lagos State Planning and Environmental Monitoring Authority, LASPEMA, an arm of the Environmental Sanitation and Enforcement Agency.
A statement by Director, Public Affairs of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Mr Kayode Oyekanmi, said the exercise followed an on-the-spot inspection in response to a petition complaining of environmental pollution at the premises.
“Prior to the demolition, the claimants, Rotimi Olufunsho Kolawole and Anor were arrested and arraigned before a Magistrate Court for construction of illegal shanties which serves as a hideout for criminals at the workshop premises.
“The claimants filed a suit against the Lagos State Government alleging that the demolition of their workshop was wrongful and illegal. They subsequently claimed the sum of N27,800,000 as special damages for goods illegally carried away and the sum of N50,000,000 as general damages for paralyzing their business operation.
“The Magistrate Court earlier ruled that the illegal shanties erected on the premises should be demolished and items found on the property should be evacuated to the office of the Lagos State Taskforce for safekeeping,” Oyekanmi said.
According to him, the state had explained that the demolition and evacuation of items at the workshop were accordingly carried out as stated in the court ruling.
He said Justice J. Kasali of the Ikeja High Court has also dismissed the claimant’s suit after holding that the demolition was duly carried out in line with the enabling law of the state.
Justice Kasali, Oyekanmi explained, noted that the claimants failed to prove and link by credible evidence their legal right to the itemized goods in their statement to the court during the trial.
‘’The court hereby dismisses your special and general damages charges against the Lagos State Government, however, the service, arrest and conviction were duly carried out in line with the law,” Oyekanmi quoted the judge as saying.
