When the 10,000
inhabitants of Old Military Barracks, Rafin Sanyin in Suleja, Niger State slept
last Sunday, they never thought they would become homeless the following day.
But by 4 am on Monday, the sound of the bulldozers woke them from sleep and
were given three hours to salvage whatever they could of their property and
vacate the buildings which the Niger State Government described as illegal
structures.
The government made a
similar attempt about two months ago but the occupants of the structures
resisted it and despite the steps taken then by the law enforcement agents who
were mobilised to carry out the demolition to avoid any ugly incident, three
lives were reportedly lost at the end of the attempt. However, as early as 4am
last Monday, the residents were caught unaware.
Security agents comprising
soldiers and anti-riot policemen in five luxurious buses stormed the barracks
and cordoned off the area. The residents were then given an option to either start
evacuating their property from their homes and vacate immediately or have the
entire buildings and their property levelled.
Amidst wailing, the
residents hurriedly evacuated some of their property and took shelter under the
nearest trees and any available space. By 7 am the bulldozers commenced work
and brought down no fewer than 20 buildings. Some of the occupants were however
said to be out of town for the Sallah holidays while others who were completely
confused on what to do watched the demolition helplessly.
One of the confused
occupants, Mrs. Abigael Samson said she could not believe her eyes when she saw
the bulldozers pulling down their building. Sobbing like a baby, Mrs. Samson
said, “I have been living here in the past 25 years before my husband died, I
was then left with my five children before they also started relocating to
different states and I am now left with only two of them who are still with me.
I don’t know any other
place than here and with this development, I think I am finished because I
don’t even know where to start a new life again”. Another resident, a retired
soldier simply called Baba who is over 80yrs old managed to put on a smile and
said, “this is a sad development, very sad indeed. As a retired
soldier who fought for the progress and unity of this country, I am not
supposed to be treated like this.
Though I am not an
indigene of Niger state but I have been living here for about 30years and just
imagine what has become my life at my age,” he lamented. He said his wife was
deceased and some of his children were also late while the two children who
were still alive were married and were not staying with him. “So I
am alone here and with this situation, I don’t even know where to go or what to
do”, the dejected octogenarian lamented.
The piece of land on
which Suleja old barrack was located was said to have been allocated after the
civil war to some of the soldiers who fought during the war as a temporary
settlement while others were moved to Bida, few kilometers from Suleja also in
Niger state. Some of the occupants, who were mostly retired soldiers thought
the piece of land had automatically become theirs, they therefore erected their
own structures on the land without any relevant papers to authenticate their
ownership.
However, the state
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa in an interview with
journalists threw more light on the issue saying though the land was given to
the military in the 70s by the relevant authority then as a temporary barracks
but the Military Authority had formally handed over the same piece of land back
to the state government with an agreement by the two parties in 2014. He
explained further that out of magnanimity, the state government also paid some
amount of money as compensation through the Military Authority to those
affected after the handing over. He said the first attempt to take over the
land by Government years back was resisted by some of the occupants adding that
they even ended up destroying the equipment to be used for the demolition. “The
case of this land had been on for a long time. It is an inherited case and one
administration just has to take action and this is what the present
administration is doing.
As far as this
administration is concerned, those who have been living here for the past years
are illegal tenants and that is why they have been ejected from the place
especially as the matter had been amicably settled between the state government
and the occupants years back,” Vatsa declared. General Manager of the state
Urban Development Board, Mallam Habiba Ahmed shortly after supervising the
demolition of the houses debunked claims by the occupants that they were not
informed before the demolition. “The state government did not just wake up to
start demolishing the buildings. We had series of meetings with them but they
were adamant, hence the final step we took,” the GM explained.
The spokesman of the
occupants (Mai Angwar), Malam Ali Musa said 90% of those residents in the area
were aged and retired soldiers and that “many of them don’t have
anywhere to go”. Malam Musa who is also a retired soldier said,”many of these
soldiers spent their retirement benefits on these buildings with nowhere to
relocate. Though government has the power to do anything but they should have
been more sympathetic in dealing with these old and elder statesmen for
the fact that they dedicated their lives for the unity of this country”
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