The Oyo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Sunday condemned the demolition of Yinka Ayefele’s Music House which houses his Fresh FM 105.9 radio station.
A statement jointly signed by the council’s Chairman, Mr Adewunmi Faniran, and the Secretary, Mr Bola Ogunlayi, said it was highly disturbed that the building was demolished when the matter was before a court of competent jurisdiction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the building belonging to the popular musician was demolished at about 4.30 am on Sunday by the state government for allegedly contravening its town planning laws.
The council expressed concern about the fate of the journalists and other media workers in the establishment as well as the loss suffered by the owner of the broadcast outfit.
“As the fourth estate of the realm and believer in the rule of law, the Oyo State NUJ expects that the court would have been left to take a definite decision on the issue of demolition before it was carried out,” it said.
The council called on the state government to ensure that “ it comes to the aid of Fresh FM which has been a pride of Ibadan in particular and Oyo State.’’
It urged the government to relocate the station to another site and ensure the smooth take-off of its operations. (NAN).
Meanwhile, the bloggers under the aegis of Guild of Bloggers, Nigeria (GBN) has strongly condemned the destructive move.
Contained in the statement made available to the media on Sunday , the founding president of the association , Solanke Ayomideji Taiwo lamented the chronic intolerance and vindictiveness of the government of the day towards any individual or private organization perceived to be against the government interest.
He said the development was nothing but a sheer antic by Ajimobi’s administration to gag the media against reporting its series of massive failures in dissonance to the manifesto sold to the electorate in its reelection bid in 2015 as the next electioneering is approaching to assess his 8 years governorship.
He further stressed that the ongoing systematic clampdown on the media organizations and its practitioners in the state by the APC administration was an irrefutable testimony to the incurable despotic conduct of its supremo who does pride himself as a die hard democrat.
He said that the outgoing administration as part of the ploys to muzzle journalists from examining and exposing its series of anti-people policies and programmes has resorted to using state instruments to witchhunt owners of private radio stations to compromise the ethics and standard of their profession.
Solanke Ayomideji, emphatically described the demolition exercise on the management of the Ibadan wave making FM radio as a gimmick to pocket its management in doing his biddings in misleading the general public on the state of affairs of the state as the season of electoral propagandas sets in.
He however called on the respected elders and accomplished indigenes of Ibadan to caution the governor from killing the growing entrepreneurial fortunes brought in by the illustrious natives and non-indigenes who found the city favourable to be settled and invested in and if he is to demolish by all standard, compensation should be the priority to the handicapped musician.
He in conclusion sympathize with the troubled Fresh FM management on the irreparable damage caused by the enemy of progress and also collaborate with various relevant authorities in the broadcasting organizations in the country possibly beyond to deploy legal instruments to challenge the proposed annihilation of its edifice in court.