Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Kaduna community protests demolition order of houses

By Saxone Akhaine, Northern Bureau Chief
28 July 2016   |   3:30 am
Residents of Gbagyi Villa community in Kaduna State wants Governor Nasir El-Rufai to rescind his decision to demolish all houses erected in the area Yesterday, they appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly...
Nasir El-Rufai

Nasir El-Rufai

Residents of Gbagyi Villa community in Kaduna State wants Governor Nasir El-Rufai to rescind his decision to demolish all houses erected in the area Yesterday, they appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly members to prevail on the governor.

The residents said they embarked on the construction of the houses six years ago, with the express endorsement of the late Governor Patrick Yakowa and the Kaduna Polytechnic authority.

But when El-Rufai visited the community last week, he insisted on demolition of the houses, pointing out that the residents have encroached on the land belonging to the polytechnic. He said there was no going back on the demolition order.

When The Guardian visited the community yesterday, several residents were seen in groups discussing and lamenting their plight and recounting the number of deaths that have been recorded among the landlords and other residents as a result of the demolition order.

A landlord, Mr. Agada Philip said “the news of the governor coming to demolish the houses in our community is devastating because we cannot imagine it.
“Living in a community, after you toiled all years and then somebody comes around to tell you he would demolish it is devastating. To an extent, we have a case in court, there is an injunction, but the governor is not above the law, he should respect the court order.”

Another resident, a civil servant, Mr. Augustine Audu explained that “since the news of the threat to pull down houses here, at least eight people have died as a result of high blood pressure and other health related ailments, including our traditional ruler Zueren Gora, Gbagyi Villa”.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna Polytechnic (KADPOLY) students are supporting the government’s decision to demolish the houses in the community, saying that the residents have rendered over 10,000 students who were expected to be on the bye-pass campus hostels homeless.

Addressing a press conference before embarking on a protest, the Student Union Government (SUG) President, Comrade Usman Kareem, said that several hostels accommodation would have been built by the polytechnic authorities, “if the Gbagyi trespassers did not illegally take over the polytechnic land”.

0 Comments