Tourism stakeholders ditto hospitalityoperators in Oyo state, have condemned instrong term, the brutal gesture and embarrassment meted on the customers and management of Lyrics Night Club and Restaurant, located at the Trans Amusement Park, Samonda, Sango-UI road, Ibadan.The stakeholders, described the closure of the foremost restaurant and bar, which has lifted the profile of the Trans Amusement Park for decades as an action capable of fanning the ember of unfriendly business environment for the hospitality industry in the state.Recently, Over 50 policemen armed to the teeth invaded the premises of Lyrics inside the Trans Amusement Park, Ibadan and forcefully and rudely evicted customers at the peak of business without any reasonable explanation or even a prior notification.The Chief Executive Officer, Lyrics Nite Club and Restaurant, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, said 'that the manner at which the invasion took place, suggests a deliberate plot by enemies of the state, to destabilise the growing business environment.According to Olaosebikan, 'at about 9.00 p.m on November 25, 2011, over 50 heavily armed policemen invaded Lyrics Nite CLub located inside Trans Amusement Park, Bodija, Ibadan and forcefully evicted us from our company at the peak of business, causing us huge emotional, financial, physical, material and social damages and portraying our beloved city of Ibadan, which we set up the company to serve, as a jungle.'Some gun-wielding policemen invaded our premises without any contact with the management of the club and started shouting. With an immediate order they gave everybody three minutes to vacate the premises and threatened to shoot anybody that failed to do so.'However, the over 100 customers and clients including foreigners, who were at the club for tourism purposes and those organising a show and bachelor's eve had to abandon their equipment, meals, drinks and other perishables and scurried out to avoid being shot.'Olaosebikan explained that the confusion and tension caused by the sudden and crude action of the policemen were so severe that 'the staff and customers were not allowed to do anything: all the bills were not settled; musical equipment could not be put off; the bars could not be closed, the generating sets could not be switched off, which compelled some of our customers to abandon their vehicles as they were made to run out of the premises.'He added that 'customers' cars were still within the premises of Trans Amusement Park as of this morning, while they were still making frantic efforts pleading with the police to permit them entry, at least, to bring out the cars.'Up to this moment, we have not received any correspondence from anybody as to why the crude and barbaric actions were meted on us in spite of our well- known positive and unequalled contributions to the growth' of Ibadan, since we commenced operations, years ago.'At a time when social life in Ibadan was almost zero and Trans Amusement Park itself dead, we out of our genuine interest in the development of our motherland, Ibadan, mobilized resources to establish the club, a development, which inspired the upgrading of existing clubs and setting up of similar outfits and ultimately brought life to the hitherto prosaic city of Ibadan.Olaosebikan also claimed that it is on record that the first profit made since the establishment of Trans was made possible through the presence and operations Lyrics at Trans.'Even, if the government of the day has any issue to settle with the present legal owner of the park, we wondered the timing of the sudden closure at 9.00 p.m. on a Friday night, the peak of our business. This is clearly an unjust, unwarranted attack against us.'We however wish to tender an unreserved apology to all our esteemed patrons, customers and clients whose rights were harshly infringed upon through the ungodly, iniquitous, barbaric and cold-hearted actions of the authority. We know that those behind the attacks would pay for it both on earth and the world beyond.'With this development, we are left with no other choice than to announce a temporary closure of our darling Lyrics. It is extremely painful. This is what the authority has done to us.
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