Natives of Kpaduma 1 and 2 communities at the Asokoro Extension of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, have condemned the demolition of structures in their communities on Monday by officials of the FCT Task Team.
It could be recalled that the FCTA Task Force stormed the communities on Monday, demolishing various structures, which included a popular Guzape Shopping Mall located in Kpaduma 1 community.
Secretary of Kpaduma 1 community, Simon Baba-Yerimah, who described the demolition exercise as inhuman, said that as indigenous people of the FCT, they were not supposed to be treated as refugees on their ancestral land.
He said that the case concerning the land with the FCTA has been in court for the past 12 years and awaiting judgment, saying that it was illegal for the FCT Administration to neglect the case in court by entering the communities to demolish the structures.
“Our pains are that they did not just demolish our structures, but they demolished our livelihoods. This is disheartening, mostly in a democratic dispensation like this. We will no longer accept this barbaric act of the Administration to push us out of our ancestral land without doing the proper thing.
“We will not allow them to demolish our structures again. It is either they kill us or leave our communities alone. We do not have weapons to defend ourselves, but we are saying that the government is supposed to care for its citizens and not treat them like animals by oppressing them.
“The questions are; why are they demolishing our homes, of whom interest, government or individuals? Are we going to build our houses in the air? Is it a mistake God made by putting us in these communities? We are appealing to the FCT Administration to respect the rule of law because this is a breach of our fundamental human rights and an injury to democracy,” he said.
Also, one of the leaders of the communities, Mr. Samuel Joseph, lamented that the administration decided to demolish structures in the communities for individual purposes when natives of the communities have not been settled or compensated.
“Our pain is that they said that about three point-something hectares of our community land belong to an individual. The purpose of taking over the plot is because they want to build a private school, not even a public school that will benefit the common people.
“Why should we be treated like slaves, as if we are not part of this country? It is not right. We are not happy about this demolition. The government should come to our aid and rescue us from this harassment we are receiving on daily basis,” he stated.
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