Night club owner in trouble for disobeying court order in Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State Physical Planning Board says it has concluded arrangements to file contempt of court charges against the owner of Stop-Ova Night Club, Mr Ebipade, for breaking into a property it sealed under a court order.

It was learnt that the Board had sealed the Stop-Ova night club on the 19th March 2019 for refusing to subject his property to technical, safety and integrity test as stipulated by the State’s Physical Planning and Development Law (2015).

According to the Chairman of the Board, Hon Ebi Waribigha, after sealing the property, Mr Ebipade allegedly broke the seal and reopened the place for business that same day without reporting to the board as directed by the Bayelsa Physical Planning and Development Tribunal.

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“When got wind of what he had done, we swung into action and some arrests were made. And based on an agreement that the club owner would comply with the court order they were released on bail.

“Two weeks after that incident, we realised that the club owner is using the property for business illegally and didn’t make any effort to report to the board like we earlier agreed.

“This time we have not only sealed the property but we seeing the owner of the property for disobeying a valid court order.

“We sealed the place simply because the landlord failed to respond to our first and second notice seeking to allow us to carry out an audit of the property. So the court graciously gave us an order to seal the place up until he complied.

“So as part of our mandate to ensure controlled and coordinated development of the state, we are empowered to carry out an audit of existing structures to confirm if they have approval and that the building conforms to the plan that was approved by the State Government.”