Unlawful demolition: Court awards N1.1b against Rivers govt

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has delivered a landmark judgment, awarding N1.1 billion against the Rivers State government. The court’s decision stems from the unlawful demolition and forceful takeover of landed properties belonging to residents of waterfront communities in Port Harcourt City Local Council.

The affected residents, from areas such as Egede, Iruala, Elechi phase one, and others, had their properties demolished and taken over by the immediate past administration of Governor Nyesom Wike.

In 2022, the residents approached the court, alleging violations of their fundamental human rights. In his judgment, the trial judge, Sika Aprioku ruled that the Rivers State government had indeed violated the fundamental rights of the applicants.

The court held that the government failed to notify the residents before demolishing their properties and could not prove that they had purchased the land from the residents.

The court also criticised the government for not providing shelter or compensation to the affected residents. Instead, the government used police and thugs to demolish the properties, chase away the residents, and take over the area for urban development.

Justice Aprioku, therefore, ordered that the state government should pay the sum of  N900  million to the applicants as cost of violation of their rights and N2 million as fine to the applicants in the suit.

Speaking on the judgement, counsel to the applicants, Tonye Igeri who is a member of the Justice and Empowerment Initiative expressed happiness over the verdict on the ground that it will go a long way in restoring the hope of victims who have been rendered homeless by the actions of the government.

Counsel from the Rivers State ministry of justice who represented the Rivers State government declined to comment on the judgement.