Court seals Ondo govt auto market
An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has ordered the sealing of the popular state automobile market following alleged disobedience of a vacation order earlier handed down to the state government.
With the development, the automobile dealers occupying the premises located along Akure- Ilesha road may have to leave.
Some people laying claim to the land, one Chief Taye James and one Idowu Onanuga had sued the government for illegally acquiring the land.
The court in 2014, in a judgment delivered by Justice A.O Adebusoye, ruled that the government should vacate the land. It further ruled that the first claimant was entitled to a statutory right of occupancy over the property.
According to the counsel of the claimants, Barrister Kehinde Ojo, the government had allegedly not obeyed the court order on the land, which made his clients to approach the court again.
To enforce the earlier judgement, the plaintiff lawyers, after approaching the court moved to enforce it, hence reason for the sealing of the place.
One of the claimants to the land Chief James said he would give the government options of giving him back the land as directed by the court or the defendant should give him N100 million as compensation.
He said the immediate past government of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko had agreed to pay them N100 million as compensation but the money was not paid until the government left in February this year. He declared that the government should pay the money or vacate the land.
In his reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Segun Ajiboye said the government would study the court ruling and take further action.