Kwara govt demolishes Moshood Mustapha’s shopping complex over violation of land use Act

…..Crystal Place demolition, a politically motivated act – Moshood Mustapha

The Kwara State Government on Sunday night demolished a shopping complex known as Crystal Place for violating the government’s land use approval issued to the owner on March 22, 2013.

The complex, which is reported to belong to the former House of Representatives member represented Ilorin West and Asa Federal Constituency Honourable Moshood Mustapha, was located along Zulu Gambari Road, GRA Ilorin, the state capital.

The shopping complex has been a subject of discussion for the past three days when the state government served the shop owners a three-hour ultimatum to move their properties away from the facility.

Meanwhile, a report has it that bulldozers commenced demolishing the main building around 8:45 pm on Sunday after a series of pleas from the occupants of the shop.

KWGIS’s reaction

Meanwhile, the Kwara State Geographic Information Service, on Sunday, issued a statement explaining that its actions are based on findings that the said building violated the government’s land use approval issued to the owner on March 22, 2013.

The statement added that the building conspicuously creates obstacles to urban planning, road expansion and environmental protection, key features of the government’s urban renewal programme.

Demolition of Crystal Place, a politically motivated act – Moshood Mustapha

In his displeasure with the current development, the former Federal Lawmaker, Honourable Mashood, has attributed the demolition of his complex as politically motivated.

The Ilorin-born politician, who is currently away in the Netherlands for a business trip, attributed the present ordeal to a disagreement on spending over N17billion on Kwara Hotel Remodeling as against the three billion proposed by his company, Crystal Group.