Unijos demolishes 50 houses in feud with Narguta Community

From Yusuf Mairiga Shekarau, Jos

Not fewer than 50 houses were demolished by University of Jos in a land faceoff with Narguta community of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Decrying the occurrence of the incident, the traditional ruler of the area, Engineer Muhammad Bello, on Sunday described it as “an outright violation of human rights, unjust, inhuman, illegitimate, brutality and insensitivity by security agencies under the instructions of the University of Jos”.
Bello said “on Saturday morning, 07-03-2020, we woke up only to realize a heavy security presence with excavators brought by University of Jos, which not only forcefully ejected our people but also demolished no fewer than 50 number of our houses without prior notice”.
He lamented that “the dastardly incident happened even when an implementation advisory committee was set up by the management committee Chairman of Jos North, which also includes representatives of the people of Narguta, Anaguta and University of Jos, but to our greatest dismay, the University went ahead to embark on demolition of houses”.
He stated that the demolition act was preceded by forceful breaking into their homes, molestation of youth and women, some of whom were injured and arrested by security operatives unjustly.
Bello said as peace loving community, “we have been following all the necessary ways to resolve the issue of the land dispute between some of the community members and the authority of the institution amicably, regretting that the University seems to be taking measures that appeared strange to the peaceful steps already taken”.
“While we remain focused, open to all stakeholders for discussions on ways that proffers lasting solutions to the existing problem, we are equally calling on all critical stakeholders within and outside the state, to look into our plight especially as it regards ensuring Justice and fairness to both parties involved in this despicable, because as it is now, a lot of our community members including women and children, have been rendered homeless and all their property were destroyed without any legal injunction”, he concluded.