Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has warned that the federal government will not tolerate the destruction of national monuments anywhere in the country for whatever reason.

A statement issued on Monday by the Minister’s special assistant, Segun Adeyemi, quoted Mohammed as giving the warning when he visited the site of a national monument, the 190-year-old Brazilian style building in Lagos, on Sunday.

Adeyemi stated that the building, which was acquired and gazetted as a national monument by the federal government in 1956, was destroyed by some developers, adding that government have since instituted court cases against the developers.

“Because they wanted to develop this place, they have broken so many laws. Fortunately, this is a country of laws and we are ready to meet them in court and one thing I can assure you is that nobody can benefit from his own crime,” Mohammed was quoted as saying.

“I want to assure you that we will challenge them in court and we are going to get our reliefs and we will restore this building to its formal glory. We have the picture, we will rebuild it,” he said.

The minister noted that the monument, built by returnee slaves from Brazil, is unique because it chronicled the historical, cultural and social relationship between Nigeria and Brazil.

He said: “It is like a living monument of our (slave trade) past. It was a monument that exhibited the Brazilian architecture at that time, which is rare to come by anywhere in the world.

“It is a remembrance of what our ancestors went through in slavery and how they triumphed, came back and showed that they were well-to-do.

“The important thing is that a people without history will perish very fast. This building was worth billions of dollars because it symbolised our past.”

Mohammed insisted that “no amount of skyscrapers can replace this historical and all important monument that has been demolished, and I want to assure you that nobody can profit from his crime.”

You cannot go to court now and say that because the structure has been destroyed, the land should go back to the owner.”

The information minister assured Nigerians that government will fight whoever destroyed the national monument and get justice.

“It may take time, but the hand of the law is long and the wheel of justice grinds slowly but surely,” he said.