Alleged Sale of Ancestral Lands: Ilorin Senior Citizens Drag KWSG to Court

Date: 2013-02-04

The controversy over the alleged sale of some ancestral lands in Ilorin has taken another twist as some senior citizens have filed a suit in Ilorin High Court praying it to restrain the Kwara State Government from transferring public ownership of same to private business.

The suit centres specifically on the alleged sale or intention to sell what the claimants call the communal-owned Old Yidi Praying Ground, otherwise known as the Ilorin Amusement Park. The disputed land is also home to the statue of the Unknown Soldier.

The litigants are Dr Ajibola Saliu Ajia, Dr. Saad Omoiya and Alhaji Saleh Duro Garba, all of them elder statesmen with deep family roots in Ilorin.

They claim that the land was dedicated to communal use as Ilorin Muslim community praying ground in 1904 until 1977 during the regime of Brigadier George Innih as the Military Governor of Kwara State when due to increased population the Ilorin Eld (Yidi) praying ground was moved to the present Eld (Yidi) praying ground situated at the Adinimonle (now Irewolede) Area of Ilorin.

They said the old Eid (Yidi) was then converted to a public-owned Amusement Park, a project that was/is meant to serve the interests of the members of the public.

According to them, "the land was never at any time acquired by any government but was part of the Ilorin community's decisions and contributions to the Islamic religious rites, practices and festivals of the community and later for the beautification of the Ilorin town and to serve as tourism, recreational, relaxation and event centre for the people of Ilorin in particular and the citizens of the state in general."

Apart from the Kwara State Government and some of its agents, joined in the suit as defendants are the alleged buyer of the land, Artee Industry Limited – owners of 'Park and Shop' – and the wife of former a former governor whom the plaintiff accused of using her position as then First Lady to facilitate the sale of the land to Artee. They claimed in the writ of summon filed before the court that 80 per cent of the proceeds from the sale had gone to her.

Among other reliefs, the plaintiffs are seeking a "declaration that the sale, transfer, assignment, alienation and or disposal and or any form of change and or conversion of the public ownership status and or structure of the Ilorin old Yidi praying ground and now the Ilorin Amusement Park from public ownership to private ownership by the 1st-5th defendants to the 6th (Artee) and 7th (Mrs Saraki) defendants through the instrumentality of the 6th defendant is wrongful, illegal and unconstitutional and in breach of the Fundamental Rights of the claimants entrenched in the Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Land Use Act, 1978."

The writ, issued on behalf of the plaintiffs by attorneys from Salman Jawondo Esq.& Saka Ayodeji Rasak Esq, of Jawondo & Co, added: "The claimants aver that since the dedication of the land as Yidi praying ground and its subsequent conversion to Amusement Park, the land had/has remained a property meant for the benefit of members of the public and had served that purpose with the management and control of the park residing in the appropriate level of government."

Source

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Government High School (GHS), Adeta     Oke-Odo     Clara Nwachukwu     Osuwa     AbdulHamid Adi     Nigerian Supreme Council For Islamic Affairs     Government Girls’ Day Secondary School Pakata     Gobirawa     Turaki     Mohammed Halidu     Bello Abubakar     Code Of Conduct Tribunal     Anilelerin     Baba Issa Awoye     Taiwo Joseph     Sadiq Buhari     Oniyangi Kunle Sulaiman     Universal Basic Education Commission     Mohammed Alabi Lawal     CELF     Mike Omotosho     Buhari     Hamidat Sulyman-Yusuf     Omotosho     Olabimpe Olani     LAK Jimoh     Saka Saadu     Olohungbebe     Isaac Gbenle     Shola Odetundun     Surajudeen Akanbi     Oyedepo     Okasanmi Ajayi     Chief Imam Of Ilorin     Ademola Kiyesola     Alanamu     Muhammad Mustapha Suleiman     Ilorin Amusement Park     Esinniobiwa Quareeb     Awwal Jawondo     Jamiu Oyawoye     Read With Me     Shehu Jimoh     Colleges Of Education Academic Staff Union     Rafiu Ajakaye     Babajide Ajayi     Just Event Online     Valsolar Consultoria     Tunde Oyawoye     Tafidan Kaiama     Kwara Central     Balikis Jawondo     Busari Toyin Isiaka     Bola Olukoju     Jawondo     Olufolake Abdulrazaq     Mohammed Yahaya Barki     Oja-Oba     Na\'Allah     Ambassador Kayode Laro     Ibrahim Oniye     Playing Host     Hassan Oyeleke     Isaac Aderemi Kolawole     Rueben Parejo     Abdullateef Abdussalam     Dauda Adesola     Economic And Financial Crimes Commission     Paul Olawoore     Kayode Oyin-Zubair     Tunji Arosanyin     Oba Abu     Yakub Lai Gobir     Aiyedun     Idiagbon     Mansurat Amuda-Kannike     Sheriff Shagaya    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

EndSARS     Sheriff Shagaya     Yaman     Abdulrazaq Magaji     Aliyu Olatunji Ajanaku     Moses Rahman Popoola     Surajudeen Akanbi     Christian Association Of Nigeria     Otoge     Alao Ayotunde     Bukola Ajikobi     Olam Food Ingredients     Saliu Ajibola Ajia     Musbau A. Akanji     Harafat E. Mukadam     Christopher Tunji Ayeni     Women For Change And Development Initiative     Sulyman Buhari     National Union Of Road Transport Workers     Osi     Sobi     Ajasse-Ipo     Ahmad Belgore     Alfa Modibo Belgore     Olohungbebe     Alfa Yahaya Road     Rafiu Olasile     Hassanat Bello     Opaleke Bukola Iyabo     Aliyu Muhammad Saifudeen     Ronke Adeyemi     Aliyu U. Tilde     Nigerian Medical Association     Wahab Issa     IsDB     Cornelius Adebayo     Universal Basic Education Commission     Issa Manzuma     Kaosarah Adeyi     Suleiman Rotimi Iliasu     Biliaminu Aliu     Shoprite     Ariyo     Amusa Bello     Olayinka Oladapo Jogunola     Azeez Bello     Fatimoh Lawal     Oladimeji Thompson     PPS     Kwara State Television (KWTV)     Kayode Bankole     Grillo     New Model Police Station     Sidikat Akaje     Doyin Agbamu     Abdullahi Saadudeen Alikinla     Sulyman Tejidini     Sambo Murtala     AIT Ilorin     Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone     Kwara Metro Park     Olukotun Of Ikotun     Akorede     Amosa     United Nigeria Congress Party     Jimoh Lambe Abdulkareem     Sheikh Alimi     Mohammed Saidu     Ilorin Emirate Stakeholders Forum     David Adesina     Tunji Arosanyin     Owo Isowo     Government High School (GHS), Adeta     Aremu Bose Deborah     Oluwarotimi Boluwatife Adenike     New Nigeria People’s Party     Offorjama