Demolition: “We have been living here before FCT was created, we can’t be displaced now” -Residents of Dutse Pe, Dutse Sokale, Dutse Makaranta, Dutse Alhaji cry out over illegal plot to demolish their houses.

The people of Dutse Pe, Dutse Sokale, Dutse Makaranta and Dutse Alhaji of Buwari Area council, one of the largest indigenous settlements in the FCT-Abuja have cried out against an ongoing injustice of house demolition which they believed was the handiwork of some politicians who have developed interest in acquiring the entire area which they have lived for years.

Our correspondent has gathered that houses in the said areas have been marked and earmarked for demolition by the staff of the Abuja Development Control, with the singular reason that they were built on an existing layout, hence residents who are majorly indigenes of Abuja have been asked to quit their land as well as their houses. This development, the people have termed the highest point of victimization and injustice being meted on them in a 21st century Nigeria where the rights of the common man should be protected instead of being grossly violated.

Our reporter s took a trip to Sokale, one of the communities marked for demolition, and residents have hinted that some politicians whose interests were to evict them and take over their land were the brain behind the recent demolition notice, affirming that they have been attracted to the area due to the beautiful topography of the community.

Our correspondent has reported that over one million people will be displaced if the demolition exercise is carried out in the area.

Speaking with some residents at Dutse-Sokale, we were told that the people of Dutse have been living on their land all their lives, even before the creation of the FCT, and they doubt if there is an existing layout as claimed by the FCT administration.

In a three page petition written on behalf of Dutse residents by their solicitors titled “LETTER OF COMPLAINT AGAINST DEMOLITION OF HOUSES AT DUTSE PE, DUTSE SOKALE, DUTSE MAKARANTA, AND DUTSE ALHAJI, the indigenes have cried to the government and the FCT administration to suspend the intended demolition as such action will bring untold hardship to residents of the areas. They appealed that as citizens of Nigeria, they deserve to be fully protected by the laws of the country. They equally asked the government to handle the matter as quickly as possible with a human face, considering the psychological trauma the marking of houses must have generated among residents and indigenes.  They had asked the government and other well-meaning individuals to wade into the matter and resolve it. “We are calling on President Goodluck Jonathan, and the FCT Minister to use his good offices to suspend the intended demolition of our homes. We have children, we have wives, we do businesses, we farm to take care of our people here. The untold hardship this displacement will cause is what the government should first of all consider even before we begin to look at the legal implication of the present predicament. At this point when the people are struggling to cater for their needs, the issue of demolition should not even come to the fore. We have nowhere to go to. This is our home, the home for our children. They all grew up here. We appeal to be treated as citizens of this country and not as second-class citizens. We will continue to be law abiding irrespective of the setback as we have always done.”  They had avowed.

Attached are scanned copies of the letter addressed to the Director of Abuja Development Control.

The FCT Minister, the Chairman, Bwari Area Council, the Director, Abuja Metropolitan Board, the Zonal land Manager, Bwari Area Council were all copied.

Posted in: