Kwara Govt defends demolition of Saraki home at dark hours

The Kwara State Government on Thursday admitted it began the physical reclamation of the plot of land bordering the civil service clinic in Ilorin in the early hours of the day. The land belongs to the political godfather of Kwara politics and government, Oloye Olusola Saraki, a former Senate Leader in the National Assembly in 1979 in the Shehu Shagari administration of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) government.

the Commissioner for Communications in Kwara State, Murtala Olanrewaju, in a statement explained that the reclamation exercise began in the early hours of Thursday to avoid any needless confrontation. He denied that the state government received court order restraining it from the action

The statement reads:

“The Kwara State Government early today began the physical reclamation of the plot of land bordering the civil service clinic in Ilorin.

“The reclamation exercise began in the early hours of Thursday to avoid any needless confrontation. Attempts by some persons to provoke government’s agents on lawful duty were resisted by the security agents who exercised the highest level of restraint and professionalism.

“Contrary to the claim that the State Government was served court papers on the matter, we state that no court paper has been served as at the time the government took steps to preserve what lawfully belongs to the people.

“Finally, we urge the people of the state to remain calm, peaceful, and be guided only by facts of the matter and not be drawn into an emotional outburst that is targeted at distracting the public from the issues at stake.

“While the administration is focused on restoring sanity to the state after years of barefaced impunity, we will do so within the limit of the law.”