The Osun State Government has said the suspected arsonists behind the burning down of the Court Room 2 in Ilesa High Court would not escape without paying for the crime they committed.
This was disclosed by the State Commissioner for Justice and the Attorney General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, after inspecting the burnt High Court building on Tuesday.
The PUNCH reports that the High Court 2 building was razed by suspected arsonists, drawing condemnation from Governor Ademola Adeleke, the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition, All Progressives Congress.
Commenting after inspecting the scene of the fire incident alongside Mr. Dosu Babatunde, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Jimi-Bada demanded adequate security presence in the court premises.
He recalled past attacks on the court, saying last year, thieves carted away electric cables in Ilesa Court, demanding that high priority be placed on security in court premises across the state.
“We need to secure this place because this is not the first time that this has happened. My brother, the Commissioner, told me that they attacked former Court Two in 2017. They also burnt it. Also, last year, they carted away electric cables from this court. All this nonsense had to stop. We will start almost immediately, we cannot abandon the court, the judge cannot sit. We also have to prioritise the security of this place.
So, no matter what we do, they will still come. So, we need to secure here. We should work on the solar panel until we work on the cable. We will start almost immediately.
The challenge we had before was that, as a government, we were trying to be careful. The court was in the budget of the judiciary, but there was no memo to the governor for approval for the renovation of all the courts. The governor can not say he wants to do it,” Jimi-Bada said.
Speaking further, Jimi-Bada said the Ministry of Justice has made provision for the renovation of the court, assuring that work would commence immediately on the project.
The Commissioner said, “We will try to see what we can do with our 2025 budget. We do not need to wait for the judiciary to bring a memo; if we wait, no memo will be brought. We can not wait. That is why we brought engineers from the Ministry of Work, we are going to work on the entire compound.
“From the running cost of the Judiciary, provision for security has been made. But there is no security and as government we are going to work on it. It is more than barbaric, but anyway, justice will catch up with such person very soon. It is a matter of time. We are going to secure the court and start renovation.”
