Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana says the demolition of the building housing Asher Kings and Queens Restaurant in Sabon Tasha, Kaduna State, violated Section 79 of the Kaduna State Urban and Regional Planning Law, 2018.
Falana argued that no section of the law permitted the demolition of any building in the state without prior notice.
The owner of the restaurant, Aisha Yakubu, had claimed that neither she nor her landlord was informed before the property was pulled down on December 31.
She further claimed that she lost one-month pregnancy and properties worth N32 million following the demolition of the building by the Kaduna State Urban Planning Development Agency (KASUPDA).
“The law which was signed by El-Rufai in 2018 does not allow for demolition without a notice. Section 79 of the law is clear. No governor has the right to authorise a demolition of the property of anyone.
“The governor cannot be the accuser, the prosecutor, the judge and the executor the judgment. All the states in Nigeria have similar laws, whether in Rivers or Lagos. None has the power to pull down the property of any citizen who has not been given the opportunity of making a representation.
“No one is in support of sex parties taking place in the country but anyone found wanting should be arrested and prosecuted according to the law. They should have prosecuted those accused of committing the offence and not pulled down the building,” Falana said.
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Meanwhile, KASUPDA boss, Mr Ismail Umaru-Dikko said that the building was demolished because it lacked a building permit.