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Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo State, gets angry, orders the arrest of the boss of his Task Force on the Demolition of Illegal Structures for acting beyond his mandate

A mild drama played out recently in Benin City, the Edo State capital, when Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo State and Lawrence Loye, a retired major and the chairman of the state Task Force on Demolition of Illegal Properties, went on a routine inspection tour. 

When the two men approached two properties along Siluko Road, Benin City, belonging to the wife of Samuel Ogbemudia, former governor of old Bendel State and Senator Rowland Owie, former governorship candidate in Edo State, the exercise took a dramatic turn.  Oshiomhole suddenly turned against the task force chairman and accosted him for demolishing the buildings belonging to the two men. The governor was so angry with Loye that he immediately ordered the police to arrest him. Within the twinkle of an eye, the policemen swooped on Loye, handcuffed him and bundled him into the back of an open Hilux van like a common criminal. Oshiomhole insisted that Loye should be detained and prosecuted over illegal destruction of properties.

 The task force chairman who was dumbfounded by the action of the governor, especially the humiliation he was subjected to, managed to say that he would not allow himself to be intimidated.

But Oshiomhole justified his action because the demolished buildings did not in any way affect the moat. “There is enough space between the property and the moat.  The fact that you work for government does not give you licence to visit harm and destruction on innocent people.  I am convinced that he acted in bad faith; it is an act of mischief. He is a sadist and his purpose is to bring confusion to the community and confuse the people about the genuineness of our intention,” the governor said.

Oshiomhole  condemned the recklessness with which the Loye -led team had been  demolishing people’s houses indiscriminately. “I only told Major Loye to demolish the houses in Upper Lawani axis of Benin-City that were on the right way of the moat. Major Loye, on his own, without authorisation from the commissioner, moved to this location and brought down this building.  He is not a town planning officer.  He is only to carry out demolitions after a competent officer identifies a property that offends the right of way.  He has assumed the powers of the Ministry of Lands and Environment.” Oshiomhole said that Loye must be subjected to the rule of law and brought to justice.

Consequently, Loye was taken to the state police headquarters where he was detained. Two days after his arrest, Loye was arraigned before a Benin Chief Magistrates’ court on a six-count charge.The trial magistrate refused to grant him  bail and directed that he be remanded in prison custody until September 28, when his bail application would be decided.

Since then, there has been mixed reactions   to the governor’s action. While  some people condemned the  manner of  his arrest,   others described the arrest as a mere ploy by the governor to gain popularity among the people as the 2012 governorship election gradually approaches.  Olayiwola Afolabi, a lawyer,  described the arrest of Loye as an afterthought and does not exonerate the government from liability. According to him, the action of the governor was belated because when the people were complaining about Loye, the governor did not listen. “It was only when the demolition touched the houses of the big men that the governor swung into action,” Afolabi said.

Hope Iyare, another  lawyer and former vice-chairman, Uhunmwonde local government area, described Loye’s arrest as ‘a political gimmick,’ arguing that the man in question has been demolishing  houses belonging to widows and other poor people in the state without any action taken. “Before now, many people in the state have been raising  alarm over the demolition exercise but nobody listened. So what Oshiomhole did that day was tantamount  to trying to denigrate  the people of Edo State and that is not fair,” he said.

Iyare, however, expressed surprise that the state governor denied responsibility for the demolition, and insisted that he was liable because Loye is his appointee.He said legally, what the governor ought to have done was to invite the commissioner of police to look into the matter and probably arrest Loye  later if found wanting. “The governor couldn’t have done the arrest because he is not a law enforcement agent; he is only the chief security officer of the state. Besides,  I also believe that the man is not even liable because the principal is the Edo State government while he is an agent of the state,” he said.

Joseph Agho, a businessman, said if the governor had taken action from the beginning when people were complaining, he  would have been on the right  track. “At the moment, I think Loye is just a scape goat. Why should the governor wait until the rich and politically powerful cried out for him to now intervene in all the rampages that the Loye-led committee has been doing. Why did he keep quiet when the houses of poor people were being wrongly demolished ?”  Agho queried.

But Joe Igbokwe, an engineer and the publicity secretary, ACN, Lagos State, told Newswatch that the governor should not be blamed because Loye was overzealous and over-stepped his bounds in the course of doing his job.”Why are the people complaining? Agreed that the state government appointed him, but the demolition of houses is supposed to be done with the clearance of the governor. In other words, the commissioner must approve the demolition while the governor signs but in a situation where the task force chairman and his men just go and demolished people’s houses without any mandate shows that he overstepped his bounds,” Igbokwe said.

Oshiomhole had set up the Edo State Task Force to restore the masterplan of Benin city through the demolition of illegal buildings, especially those erected on the moat and obstructing the right way of water. Before the programme was introduced, most of the streets in the ancient town were defaced by illegal structures that were erected by traders who preferred to display their wares by the roadside instead of going inside the market.

However, the demolition exercise turned awry as Loye recklessly demolished people’s buildings. One of the most pathetic cases was the demolition of a house belonging to Omyemwen Ogbewi, an aged widow. The woman is yet to overcome the shock she received after the building was brought down. By press time last week, she was still in coma.