John Shiklam in Kaduna
Tension has gripped some communities within the Kaduna metropolis following the destruction of over 300 houses by the Kaduna State Urban Planning Development Agency (KASUPDA).
The areas are said to be marked for demolition following the illegal construction of houses.
Some of the destroyed houses are still under construction while others had been completed and occupied.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Kaduna, Yusuf Zomo, who spoke on behalf of the affected persons, said officials of KASUPDA stormed the communities at about 12 midnight last Saturday and started “demolishing” houses without any prior notice.
THISDAY findings show that most of the houses are partially destroyed while in some cases, fences were pulled down.
Zomo said personnel of KASUPDA, accompanied by armed security agents, arrived in the communities with bulldozers, and went from place to place “demolishing over 300 houses.”
He said the affected communities are Baban Saura, Anguwan Waziri, Karji, Tsohon Kamanz and Angwan Maigyero.
Zomo, who spoke in Hausa language, said: “Initially, they said they didn’t want containers on the road, and the owners of containers were directed to remove them from by the roadside.
”The owners of the containers complied with the directives and removed the containers.
“At about 12 midnight last Friday when everybody was asleep, they (KASUPDA officials) moved in with caterpillars and bulldozers. They were accompanied by armed security men who threatened to shoot anyone who came close to
them.
“The people were sleeping in their homes when they noticed their houses being pulled down, so they had to run. If you didn’t run out, they would pull down the house on them. People were shouting and running helplessly.”
He continued: “If this is a government of the people and they claim that the land belongs to them, why didn’t they come in the day time and talk to us about their intentions.
”Up till this moment, we don’t know what their reason for pulling down our houses is. We are crying out to the world to hear what the government of Kaduna State has done to us.
“Is Governor Nasir El-Rufai aware of this or not? We are not fighting, we cannot fight them…but we are the ones who voted them to power. If there are no people, there won’t be any government. They should have come in the day time and seek audience with us so that we can discuss and understand ourselves.”
However, in his reaction, the Managing Director of KASUPDA, Mr. Ismaila Dikko, said the houses were illegally built on the land despite several notices warning the people to stop building in the area.
According to him, since 2012 the agency issued ‘stop work notices’ to those who built on the land but they ignored the notices and continued with their buildings.
Dikko said: “The area is part of the eastern sector gazetted in 1994 with an ordered that doesn’t allowed development without planning permission and statutory rights of occupancy.
“Ask them if they have any permits before development; also, our ‘X mark‘ and painting have been all over their properties advising them to stop.
“We have issued stop-work notices since 2012, but they went ahead to build illegally, this is not acceptable. The area has its plan, with schools, cemeteries, markets, police station, hospital, among others, but they decided to build without regards.”
