Ogun Government Says the Demolished Plaza in Ijebu Ode Is an Illegal Structure
Ogun State Government says the five floor plaza it partially demolished along Folagbade street in Ijebu Ode on Sunday, was an illegal structure.
The partial demolition of the structure, belonging to Datkem Entreprises, took place in the early hours of Sunday.
RockCity FM gathers that the structure was being developed by the wife of the state’s former governor, Senator Gbenga Daniel.
Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engineer Olayiwola Abiodun, in a statement on Sunday, also said the structure has numerous defects which violates the state building code.
It challenged the developer, Datkem Entreprise Limited, to produce any evidence of approval it received for going ahead with the construction of the plaza.
He explained that the ministry partially pulled down the defective structure in order to be proactive, to avoid an issue of collapsed building in the state.
According to him, all efforts made by the ministry to halt the further development of the site, were ignored by the developer.
He said the ministry had been serving the developer with several notices, including abatement, contravention, stop work and demolition on the project, since May 2022.
The Permanent Secretary said the first notice to stop work on the project, was first issued on May 2022, followed by other notices on July 22, 2023, October 4 and 11, 2023, as well as on august 1, august 11 and august 31.
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He said the developer ignored the notices and continued work on the project.
The project manager and developer, Oluwasegun Lawal, said the building had been under construction since 2009.
According to him, the building was scheduled for commissioning later this month.
He said they received a three day demolition notice from the state government for not providing enough parking space and several other facilities.
Meanwhile, the legal team of Senator Daniel has expressed shock at the partial demolition of the building
The legal team in a statement signed by a senior advocate, Adeyinka Kotoye on Sunday, accused the state government of ignoring the order of a court restraining it from demolishing the structure.
According to the lawyer, the state planning and development authority issued a three notice to the developer of the structure, Datkem Entreprises limited on August 31, 2023, to vacate the site of the building.
He explained that Datkem had earlier applied to the state government for the unsealing and regularizing of the building on August 2, 2023, and paid N500, 00 fees.
