12th July, 2017
The Management of Breeze 99.9 FM, Lafia has dragged the Nasarawa State Government to court over the demolition of the private radio station.
In the suit filed at High Court 4, Lafia, the station is demanding N1.5 billion as compensation for damages it suffered following the demolition of the structures housing the outfit, and the communication equipment inside them.
According to Mr Ocha Ulegede, Counsel to Breeze FM, the station is also praying the court to declare the action of the state government “illegal, unconstitutional, high-handed and vindictive”.
“We are asking for public apology and monetary damages totaling more than of N1.5 billion.
“We also want the court to restrain the state government from carrying out further demolition of the property because we have it on good authority that they are planning to demolish other structures housing other facilities,” he said.
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The counsel said that the monetary demand of N1.5 billion was for general damages, while N17.8 million was in compensation for special damage for the unlawful act.
“From the documents available to us, the government did not serve any notice to the management of the station as required by the law.
“The radio station followed due process and met all requirements before it was given the licence to operate by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
“There is no law in Nasarawa State that specifically designated places for residential and commercials purposes; so, no law was breached,” he said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government demolished the radio station on May 20, 2017, citing violation of land approval laws.
Governor Umaru Al-Makura has said that the radio station would be made to pay a fine for violating the approved land laws.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.