Airport project: Land owners sue Fayose, demand N650m

Owners of the acres of land acquired by the Ekiti State government for the construction of airport have sued Governor Ayodele Fayose for “unlawful and forcible acquisition” of their land. The plantation farmers are demanding the sum of N650 million  being general damages for the unlawful entry, damaging, removal of economic crops, destruction of buildings, […]

Owners of the acres of land acquired by the Ekiti State government for the construction of airport have sued Governor Ayodele Fayose for “unlawful and forcible acquisition” of their land.
The plantation farmers are demanding the sum of N650 million  being general damages for the unlawful entry, damaging, removal of economic crops, destruction of buildings, huts, storage sheds and general trespass on their parcels of land.
The plaintiffs: Faluyi Ayeni, Tunde Ademiluyi, Faturoti Simeon, Awe Ojo Oladimeji Ojo, Oloniyi Agbadaola, Moses Ojo, Fabiyi Oso and Julius Oso sued for themselves and on behalf of farmers and land owners of four communities affected by the proposed airport project instituted a suit before an Ado Ekiti High Court marked HAD/71/2015.
The affected communities are Igbogun farm settlement, Igbemo farm settlement, Iwajo farm settlement and Aso Ayegunle spanning three local government areas of Ado, Irepodun/Ifelodun and Gbonyin.
According to the Originating summons filed by the counsel to the plaintiffs, Ayodeji Makanjuola Esan, given to our reporter in Ado Ekiti last week, the defendants in the case are Fayose (1st), Commissioner for Works and Transportation (2nd), Commissioner for Lands and Housing (3rd) and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice (4th).
The aggrieved farmers and land owners averred that the agents of the 1st defendant forcibly entered their land without any prior notice on 2nd October and subsequent occasions to clear and remove economic trees, crops and buildings describing the action as illegal, unconstitutional, violation of their fundamental human rights and provisions of the Land Use Act 1978.
Among the reliefs sought is an order for the payment, jointly and severally by the defendants to the claimants the sum of N650 million being general damages for the unlawful entry, damaging, removal of economic crops, destruction of buildings, huts, storage sheds and general trespass on their parcels of land.
They are praying the court for an order of injunction restraining the defendants from further removing, harvesting, cropping, clearing or otherwise damaging their economic crops, buildings and chattels.