The angry residents stormed the major roads of Benin, noting that they were from Oke-Oroma community in the state.
Some residents of Edo State on Thursday protested the unlawful demolition of their houses by the state governor, Godwin Obaseki’s administration, despite a court injunction against it.
The angry residents, who were seen in a video on Twitter, stormed the major roads of Benin, noting that they were from Oke-Oroma community in the state.
The inscription on their displayed banner reads, "Obaseki The Executive Governor Is Already In Contempt Of Court And Infringe On Our Fundamental Human Rights To Property."
"The primary business of the government is to protect lives and properties, not take properties. It is no longer news. We want all the civil servants to listen because weather you like it or not. We all eat from the same market; we all buy from the same market. We all go to the same hospitals. We all go to the same schools, weather you are private or public. An injury to one is an injury to all," one of the protesters added.
In October, SaharaReporters reported that there was anger when the state government carried out the demolition of at least 90 residential houses.
The governor ordered the demolition of these houses to reclaim 1,229 hectares of land meant for the development of a self-acclaimed new town project in the city.
The demolition happened barely 24 hours after the government declared a 24-hour curfew in Ihhiri-Obazagbon-Ogheghe, Benin.
Meanwhile, Justice Veestee Eboreime had, on August 4, 2022, ruled in favor of elders and leaders of Oke-Oroma community and restrained the Edo Governor from further trespassing on, bulldozing or developing the land in dispute situate and lying at Oke-Oroma Village, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Edo State with an area of 714.750 hectares or doing anything whatsoever on the land in dispute that is inconsistent with the rights of Claimants/Applicants pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
Justice Veestee made this ruling in a Suit filed by Gaius Emokpae and five others, where he granted an Interlocutory Injunction restraining the defendants/Respondents, their servants, agents and/or privies from taking possession of the land situate and lying at Oke-Oroma Village.
The defendants in the suit were; Edo State Governor, the Attorney-General and the Edo State Geographic Information Service.
Reacting to the governor's defiance to the court order, the Oke-Aroma elders threatened to file contempt proceedings against the Edo Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Iyamu.
"What the government has done is to trample on the order of court and subvert the rule of law. There is no issue of land grabbing involved. It is up to the Bar to defend the rule of law in our State and our law practice.
"Government is supposed to protect its citizens and not destroy their lives. To build a new town is not done through annexation and forceful acquisition. The action of Governor Obaseki is against United Nations rules on human rights. We will use the law to ensure our ancestral land is preserved for our generation to come," one of the elders said.
Also, a socio-cultural group, the Benin Solidarity Movement, (BSM), condemned the action of Governor Obaseki saying developers would not have been allowed to spend money to erect structures on the land.