Borno Residents Cry Out Over Demolition

Residents of the Shawari 5 area of Maiduguri, behind the 7 Division Garrison Command of the Nigerian Army, have lamented the Borno State government’s demolition of their houses without adequate notice and compensation.

LEADERSHIP reports that while the state government bulldozer brought down the buildings, the victims picked up vital household items from the demolished houses. In contrast, those whose homes are yet to be demolished but have been marked were busy removing the roofs and zinc.

Yusuf Yunusa, whose building has been demolished, said they were given only three days’ notice before the demolition. He added that he spent about N18 million on the house.

He appealed to Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum to see how he could compensate them for the demolition or provide alternative shelter since they had nowhere to go with their family members.

Similarly, Abdulateef Mohammed, whose house was marked but has not been demolished, appealed to Governor Zulum to give them enough time to enable them to remove his belongings from the house before the demolition.

“My house has not been demolished, but it has been marked for demolition. The government should give us more time to locate a house to pack our belongings. If the home is eventually demolished, I will not have a place to live with my family.  The demolition has confused many of us because we don’t have a place to go, “he said.

Alhaji Mustapha admitted that most of them don’t have title to the land, as they bought it from the community leader (Bulama) and appealed for compensation from the government so they don’t lose all their investment.

However, reacting, the General Manager of Borno State Urban Planning Development Board, Town Planner Liman Mustapha, said the essence of the demolition is to secure the land being set aside for the upgraded Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, adding that there is no compensation for the owners of the demolished houses.

He said the residents had been informed about the illegality of their occupation since 2020. He stressed that they had been following since to secure the land and stopped them from developing, but ignored and kept building.

“The notice has been there for a long time. Television and radio programmes have been carried out to sensitise them to the illegality of occupying the place. We have had a master plan for this area since 1978. We have targeted 500 metres of space from the fence of the Airport. We started with 200 metres, and in the next coming week, we will be heading for 500 meters.

Corroborating him, the Acting Regional Manager of Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Adamu Sheikh Matunkolo, said that additional space has become necessary with the federal government upgrading Maiduguri International Airport.

“As you are aware, Muhammadu Buhari International Airport has been upgraded by the federal government to start international operations, and we have to meet some requirements.  The federal government’s target can’t be met if we don’t meet them.

“We sympathise with the people who don’t want to obey this order; we have our plan, and we plan that the area slated for demolition is a buffer zone. We have what we call crashes, and the purpose of the crash gate internationally is that Aircraft is landing and taking off. When they land, they may skid off the runway, and you know the speed at which they are coming.

“If we don’t have any structure outside this place, it will be disastrous. So, we requested additional space from the Borno State Government. We even put a peg and signages on the land, but they removed them,” he said.