ALTHOUGH the Lagos State Government has said it has no plan to demolish or relocate the Ladipo Auto Spare Parts International Market from its present location, the traders have, however, insisted on legal action against the Mushin Local council for the invasion of the market and subsequent destruction of their goods and properties worth millions of Naira.

Already, the traders have through their counsel, Mr. Richard Nwankwo of Nwankwo & Nwankwo, sent a pre-action notice to the Executive Secretary of Mushin Council, Mr. Jide Bello, in strict compliance with the provisions of the law concerning initiating legal processes against the council.

In the letter, copies of which went sent to the Lagos State Attorney General, Lagos Chief Judge, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, National Human Rights Commission, Office of Public Defender and the Public Complaints Commission, the traders said they were desirous of taking out processes against the local council for injunctive reliefs and claims of theft of cash, vehicle spare parts, as well as the destruction visited on their properties on account of the Council’s alleged ordered demolition of the market.

The traders backed their intent on the celebrated case of Ojukwu v. Military Governor of Lagos State, reported in 1985, 2 Nigeria Weekly Law Report, Part 10, where the court held that: “Everybody including private individual, public individual, government or Police are forbidden to take possession or re-possession of a premised by self help, force, strong hand or with a multitude of people.

“Every body entitled to possession or re-possession of premise can only do so by due process of law. They must not take the law into their hands. They must apply to the court for possession and act on the authority of the court.”

The perchance of the Executive Secretary towards arbitrary recourse to self help, the counsel said, elicited the pre-action notice, which has already been served on the local council.

Also, in a letter to the Lagos State Attorney General, the traders expressed shock that a large number of hired policemen, hoodlums, miscreants and officials of Total Value Services Ltd, all acting on the alleged instruction and behest of the executive secretary of the Mushin local council, on June 30, 2015, at about 4.30am began physical demolition of the said market not minding the fact that goods worth million of Naira were stored in the market.
Two earth moving machines, the counsel said, were used to commence demolition of the market, leading to the lost of millions in cash and in properties, as hoodlums had a free day, looting some of the shops whose walls were pulled down and roofs removed.

In the letter, the traders appealed to the attorney general to promptly investigate these breaches, which they claimed, represent a clear and unpardonable bastardisation of the Rule of Law and a monumental abuse of due process.