By Mike Adeyemi
The Head Office of KASMAG, a popular interstate transportation company was on Wednesday demolished in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
The office located along Unity area of Ilorin metropolis was demolished by operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).
The demolition, according to a resident of the area, Abdulateef Afolabi, was effected Wednesday morning by operatives of NSCDC numbering about 30, who stormed the area in three hilux vehicles, alongside an excavator.
According to him, “Yesterday (Wednesday) about 30 men of the NSCDC came in three hilux vehicles. They also brought an excavator and sprung into action pulling down all the structures here.
“One of the operatives whom I approached told me that they were acting on instruction from above. They demolished everything within one hour and scared people away with guns while the operation lasted.”
Speaking to our reporter on the development in his office, the Chairman of KASMAG Motors, Alhaji Abdulganiyu Omoola described the action by the NSCDC as unprofessional.
“We had been on the case for a long while now. What really happened is that the owner of the house had died about 35 years ago leaving behind the inheritance for her children; four siblings comprising of one male and three females.
“I first paid my tenancy fee to the male among them before the other siblings told me that they were the legal owners of the place I occupied in accordance to the will left by their late mother.
“However, Tunde Adebayo who is the only male among them claimed he is the owner of the property. I had to make enquiries from their family members who insisted that it is the female siblings that owned that section of the building I occupied.
“Tunde Adebayo later went to obtain a court order asking me to block all the boreholes I drilled. He got the order in 2018 and we appeal the judgement in the High Court to determine who the legitimate owners of the property are.
“So, I decided that whosoever the High Court pronounced the real owner would be the person I will be paying my tenancy dues to. I had just spent about N8million to refurbish the park, only to receive distress calls yesterday that they had demolished my park. It is Tunde Adebayo that ordered the officials of NSCDC to demolish my pack,” the KASMAG boss stressed.
Speaking in the same vein, Alhaja Sifawu Saka Dagbo, eldest of the female siblings affirmed that she is the rightful owner of the portion leased to KASMAG.
“Yes, I am the one that leased this part to KASMAG and he has paid us in advance. What my brother has done is bad, because it is our property. The other section of the building at the back is his own as contained in the will left behind by our late mother.
“I’m the first born of our mother. I was not privileged to go to school that was why our mother bequeathed me with this portion so as not to suffer. We have been on this case for over 10 years, but he (Tunde Adebayo) insisted that he would take over the whole property from us,” she lamented.
Similarly, the counsel to KASMAG motors, Barrister Taofeeq Alubarika described the demolition of his client’s park as wrong move.
“The demolition is a slap on the Law. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps has demonstrated highly unprofessional approach to the issue. But you know, everything has a procedure and two wrongs can never make a right.
“They have done what they did. On our own part, as I know my client, he is a law abiding citizen. With this situation now, I want to believe that the NSCDC was misled. The fact was misrepresented to them and it’s unfortunate.
“Immediately after the demolition, we went to their office with some documents, and when they saw those documents they were convinced that they were misled. They pleaded with us, but we cannot leave it at that.
“We have written the NSCDC to write an apology letter within seven days. And after seven days if they fail to apologise to KASMAG, we will take a legal action against them, “the Lawyer hinted.
“As for the Court, we have written them too. The purported Court order they claimed emanated from the Magistrate Court, we have been on that for long and I wouldn’t want to comment on that much.
“The matter is still in the Court. The Chief Judge is aware of it, the Magistrate too know what is going on. We want to know who signed the order.
“My client hasn’t violated any law. The case before the magistrate is a tenancy matter.
If you are at the magistrate court for tenancy, what you are just saying is that you want your possession and you want your money, nothing more.
“And if that person fails to pay, you just have to get documents to recover your money. It is the plaintiff himself that countered claim that he is the owner of this place and the case is still pending before Justice E.B Mahmood, ” Albarika added.
However, when our reporter contacted the head office of the NSCDC, the Public Relations Officer, Ayeni Olasunkanmi said his men acted based on court injunction.
“The demolition of KASMAG park was an execution of court judgement. There is a judgment to that effect by the court of Law.
“The case was between two siblings and judgement was given to that effect. The Lawyer to the plaintiff approached us to grant security to that effect. KASMAG is not involved in the matter.
“KASMAG is a tenant, the case was between siblings. The siblings are fighting over a property, so KASMAG is not in any way targeted in the demolition,” Ayeni said.
Reacting to the legality or otherwise of the NSCDC to execute a court order, Ayeni said part of the mandate of the corps is to prosecute, arrest and execute a court order.
“Yes. We have the mandate to prosecute, we have the mandate to arrest, we have the mandate to execute court judgement,” he stressed.
