Sequel to Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s resolve to pull down over 1,000 houses in Kaduna State, Amnesty International, AI, has on Tuesday, August 9, called for an emergency international action against the Governor, in order to forestall a possible blood bath.
It could be recalled, that El-Rufai had threatened to demolish houses in Gbagyi Village, with more than 1000 houses at the moment marked with the X demolition sign, capable of subjecting thousands of its citizens to untold hardship, and untimely death.
Amnesty International in a statement said, “The Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA), has issued a 21-day demolition notice to some residents of Gbagyi Villa, Kaduna State, on four occasions between 4th November 2015 and 16th March 2016.“Amnesty International has seen these notices and some of the houses marked X.”Residents say they have not been consulted about the planned demolition, and no alternative housing or compensation has been offered.“The residents initiated a court case on 10th March, and obtained an injunction against the planned demolition.“Despite the ongoing court case, the Governor of Kaduna State visited the community on 21st July and publicly said that houses, which have allegedly encroached on the land belonging to the Kaduna State Polytechnic, and built without title documents and building permits, will be demolished even before the conclusion of the court case.”Each of the houses marked for demolition has an average of five residents. Therefore, should the demolitions go ahead, at least five thousand people (including, men, women and children) will be left homeless and vulnerable to a range of human rights violations.
“Many of the residents, who are either the original farmland owners, or those who bought lands from its original owners, and their tenants, do not have the demanded title documents, as these are difficult and costly to obtain.“However, many have legally obtained building permits, or have made payments for obtaining the same. Despite this, their houses have been marked for demolition”.
In a related development, the Youth Wing of the Southern Kaduna Youth Peoples Union, SOKAPU, has warned El-rufai to re-consider the planned demolition of Gbagyi Village, a community with over 4,000 structures in Kaduna metropolis.
The youths who were viciously angry in their statement, condemned the planned action, wondering why the Governor was desperate to demolish an entire community, while the case was still pending in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The group said, “it is obvious the Governor wants blood, as he is so desperate to go ahead with the demolition plan”.
It warned, that if even one building was touched, the situation could get ugly.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Gbagyi Village Owner’s Association, Chris Obodumu, and the Sariki Samari (traditional ruler), told Amnesty International, that residents have not been consulted about the planned demolition, neither has any alternative housing, nor compensation been provided.
According to El-Rufai’s notice of demolition, the affected residents have built without obtaining planning permits from KASUPDA.
The Governor also alleged that the community encroached on nearly 70 percent of land belonging to the Kaduna State Polytechnic.
In a review of documents of land purchase presented by the community to Amnesty International, the terms of the settlement were documented in a White Paper, and a sketch map produced by the then Surveyor General of Kaduna State, which in effect apportioned the land for the benefit of each party.
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