The Kwara State government has demolished a welfare home belonging to the Sarakis in Ilorin on Thursday, despite protests lasting till late Wednesday’s night.
The property popularly known as ‘Ile Arugbo’ has for many years, served the purpose of accommodating aged people who troop to the place to benefit from the social welfare programs of the Sarakis.
Since late December when the news of the land revocation and the planned demolition broke, it has generated heated controversies between the followers of Sen. Bukola Saraki and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
It was gathered that the building was demolished early Thursday morning after security operatives dispersed protesters, including aged women within the complex who had protested throughout the night.
The state government had fix midnight for the demolition exercise to avoid a clash with Saraki’s loyalists who had been keeping a vigil in the area.
Saraki has accused AbdulRazaq of “riding roughshod” on his deceased father, Olusola Saraki who built ‘Ile Arugbo’ in the name of one of his companies. He said the land revocation was part of attempts by the Governor to wipe out his father’s legacy in Kwara.
“The property had been rightfully allocated to my late father under the name of one of his companies, Asa Investment Limited, since the 1980s and contrary to the claim of the Governor, the land was properly allocated and a Right of Occupancy title issued on it,” Saraki said.
However, the Kwara state government has maintained that the land was acquired illegally.
The AdulRazaq’s administration claimed that the land was originally designated for the construction of a secretariat and parking lot of the civil service clinic, but that it was unlawfully allocated to a private firm — Asa Investments Limited — without any record of payment to the state government.
The decision was reached after a panel by the Kwara State government recommended that the house be demolished because it was acquired illegally.
The state government plans to build a secretariat on the land in 2020.
