State reclaims 161-year-old historic site

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September 21, 2016 3:12 PM

The site of Victor Ola Iya House was reclaimed by the Lagos State Government on Sunday, September 18, 2016.

Ola Iya House site

The Victor Ola Iya House, popularly known as Ilojo Bar was recently demolished by some persons.

The government of Lagos State has described this demolition as illegal, and it has threatened legal action against those behind the act.

The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, declared the building a national monument in 1956.

The structure had served as a bar and restaurant as far back as 1855, but during the Eid-el-Kabir holiday, the building was demolished.

A man who simply identified as Onitolo, claimed that he had a permit and wanted to develop something on the site, saying that the owners of the building, the Olaiya family contracted him to work on the site.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, Remi Oni-Orisan and Oladotun Lasoju of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, went with other government officials to the scene to reclaim the site.

Lasoju said that the site is public property and the state government would not allow such illegality. According to Oni-Orisan, the structure was illegally taken over by some people who work at odd hours and who surrounded the place with hoodlums.

The government has reclaimed the historical site and plans to take legal action against the trespassers.

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