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Estate residents in Ekiti seek police protection against forceful ejection

By Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado-Ekiti
10 August 2015   |   6:27 pm
RESIDENTS of Ajewole Estate in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, have petitioned the State Commissioner of Police over forceful eviction from their homes by the state government.

ekitiRESIDENTS of Ajewole Estate in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, have petitioned the State Commissioner of Police over forceful eviction from their homes by the state government.

In the petition by their lawyer, Mr Rafiu Balogun, they alleged the illegal use of men and officers of the Command in their eviction from their houses claiming that the eviction is a breach of the mortgage agreement they have with the state government.

The petition dated August 6, 2015, reads in part: “Our clients applied to the Housing Corporation for purchase of their houses and accepted the offer and paid the initial deposit in line with the Letters of Offer and took possession, and, accordingly, all of them have been occupying their respective houses, having paid the initial deposit in line with the agreement.”

“By the tenure of the sale agreement, our clients are requested to pay the total cost of their houses within the period of five years from the day Offer Letters were written to them by the corporation,” the lawyers explained.

They added that the agreement also included extension of another five years to make it convenient to pay up the mortgage sum, regretting that even the first five years had not been exhausted let alone the extension of time before the governor moved against their clients.

“It is worrisome that the governor can be threatening fire and brimstone when the tenure of the mortgage has not expired.”

“During the last meeting His Excellency had with our clients, he restated his threat point blank that he will eject our clients and allocate their houses to interested buyers contrary to the mortgage agreement,” they said

They urged the police commissioner to protect them and prevent avoidable breakdown of law and order and its adverse consequences.

In another petition to the police, the residents and house owners in the estate also alleged illegal use of policemen by the governor to forcefully evict them from their homes.

In the petition also copied to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, National Human Rights Commission and State Director of the Department of State Services by their Chairman, Ayodele Orebe and Secretary Fidelis Adikwu, the residents complained of harassment and forceful eviction, following refusal of the governor to accept a mortgage agreement with Ekiti State Housing Corporation in the payment for their houses.

“We wish to intimate you of the subsisting mortgage repayment agreement with the State Housing Corporation ranging from five to 10 years.”

“However, the corporation suddenly made a U-turn to renege on the agreement on the instruction of the governor by insisting that we must pay up in just one month,” they explained.

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