Ayefele’s Building: ‘This High-handedness Is Unacceptable’, Afenifere Slams Ajimobi Govt

The Afenifere Pan-Yoruba socio-political group has chided Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led government for the manner at which gospel musician Yinka Ayefele’s Musical House was brought down by the Oyo State government.

Afenifere frowned especially at the timing of the act, describing it as “high-handedness, impunity and an abuse of power”.

Th group, in a statement signed by its acting publicity secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, on Thursday, said the act is condemnable and will no longer be tolerated.

Recall that THE WHISTLER reported how the “music house”, which houses Ayefele’s radio station, Fresh FM Ibadan, reportedly valued at N800 million, was demolished in the early hours of Sunday.

The statement reads: “The first reason for our distress has to do with the timing of the demolition. Weekends in Nigeria are normally work-free for government officers except for those on essential duties. To the best of our knowledge, demolishing a house that was not certified to have structural defects is not a thing that could not wait until the day of normal government business which is between Monday and Friday of the week.

“Secondly, a case, as stated inter alia, was instituted in court over the matter. It is curious that the government which kept imploring the citizens to always follow the rule of law and go to the court rather than taking law into their hands, itself resorted to self-help. Employing self-help is capable of engendering chaos and even violence.”

Afenifere stated that the required line of action by the government was litigation, but it decided to resort to usage of force.

“There might be no report that Ayefele fulfilled the three conditions as demanded by the Governor’s solicitor, Messrs Yomi Alliyu. One would expect that the action that would have followed such failure would be litigation rather than a demolition.

“One is therefore at pains to understand why the same Oyo State Government would resort to the usage of force to either settle a slanderous case or a violation of building enactment.

“Actions such as the demolition of the Music House are unacceptable to Afenifere Oyo and members of the public. We demand reparation as well as an assurance that such actions that border on an abuse of power would no longer occur in our land,” the statement added.