The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday condemned the planned demolition of illegal structures in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by the minister, Nyesom Wike.
The organised labour said the move was a war against the poor and a violation of their human rights.
The NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who spoke at the congress national symposium in Abuja said the plan should not go ahead unless there is alternative shelters for the affected poor.
It should be recalled that, upon assumption, Wike had vowed to demolish all illegal buildings and structures in the FCT as part of efforts to restore the Abuja Master Plan
He also threatened to revoke lands that were allocated but not developed and reclaim uncompleted buildings that had become a safe haven for criminals.
Wike vowed not to spare anyone, irrespective of status, who had distorted the master plan, encroached the green areas and would also ban motorcycle and tricycle operators, open grazing, roadside markets in the FCT.
Wike’s decision had drawn significant criticism by Nigerians.
However, speaking at the symposium with the theme, “Nigerian Economy and the Crisis of Survival : Robbing the Poor to Pay the Rich”, Ajaero said that the FCT administration should legalise those structures.
He said, “The new attack by Wike to drive the poor out of Abuja, it’s a war where they tell you that you build in a place that is not part of the master plan, the master plan is only known to them.
The NLC is saying that those structures are not illegal, those structures should be made legal unless there is alternative to them”.
“There is no area they map out, either quarter plot or half plot for the poor to build in Abuja and when the poor manage to get small shelter, it’s been demolished on daily basis. It is a war against the poor.
“The number of people Adolf Hitler killed under a gas chamber will be a child play for people who will die because of shock over demolition”, Ajaero added.
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