{"id":8333,"date":"2013-08-14T10:39:51","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T10:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/lagos-appeals-al-mustaphas-acquittal\/"},"modified":"2013-08-14T10:39:51","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T10:39:51","slug":"lagos-appeals-al-mustaphas-acquittal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/lagos-appeals-al-mustaphas-acquittal\/","title":{"rendered":"Lagos appeals Al-Mustapha\u2019s acquittal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From Ayodele Samuel, Matthew Irinoye & Mariam Nurudeen, Lagos<\/p>\n

Lagos state government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Nigeria against the two judgments of the lower court which acquitted and discharged Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan of the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.\u00a0The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye,\u00a0disclosed this yesterday during his ministry\u2019s monthly media briefing on Law and Order in the state.<\/p>\n

Ipaye said that the decision to appeal the judgments of the Appeal Court was taken because there are enough and very good grounds for appeal.\u00a0He however refused to disclose the grounds of the appeal filed at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving carefully reviewed the decisions of the respected Justices of the Court of Appeal, it is our humble view that there are strong bases for appeal which the Supreme Court of Nigeria should have an opportunity to consider.
\u201cThis step will also ensure that all issues are fully articulated and the victim\u2019s family, the defendants and the society are not deprived of the last window of opportunity provided by the constitution for the resolution of the case\u201d, he said.
The Commissioner however rejected the reports of the Amnesty
International and Social and Economic Rights Action Centre on the
people forcefully evicted from their homes in Ijora-Badia East.
He reiterated government\u2019s commitment to the welfare of residents of the state and the protection of their rights, describing most people in Badia East as illegal occupiers, having admitted being forced to move to the area following the construction of the National Arts Theatre complex by the federal government.
Ipaye said, \u201cillegal settlements, unapproved building and unsanitary conditions cannot be justified as these may end up in painful evictions or demolitions\u201d.
The Attorney General said that the area which is the subject of
Amnesty International report was a swampy strip of land and the least built up of the entire community and had earlier been cleared in 2003.
He noted that the area was subsequently filled up with refuse, having been used as a refuse dump since it was first cleared noting that a few plank and, \u201cshanty structures put up there grew gradually into a small community characterized by all negative features of urban slum settlement, including unstructured shelter arrangements, regular flooding, unhealthy environment, insecurity and people engaged in all sorts of nefarious activities\u201d.
Ipaye said that government had to retake possession of the area in furtherance of its policy on the provision of estates with
infrastructure facilities at concessionary rates for residential and commercial development.
\u201cBefore the state embarked on the development of 1,008 housing units in the area, he said Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola personally led other senior officials of the state to the area to sensitize the occupiers on April 26 and October 2, 2012 and had several other stakeholders meeting afterwards concerning its intention\u201d.<\/p>\n

The post Lagos appeals Al-Mustapha\u2019s acquittal appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: People’s Daily Newspaper<\/p>\n

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