FCT residents appeal to minister over planned demolition

By Abubakar Yunusa

Nuwalege Community of Federal Capital Territory Abuja, has appealed to the FCT Minister, Nyeson Wike to stop the planned demolition of the community Nuwalege along Bill Clinton’s Drive Airport Road Abuja.

Addressing journalists, the village head of (Aguma) Nuwalege, Bashir Daudu, said some development control officials and the were in the community to inform them of the planned demolition.

He said the FCDA officials told the community that the demolition was necessitated by request from the authority of the Nigerian Air Force who wrote to the honourable minister on their needs and desire to remove the village because it is part of the presidential fleet plots.

Daudu said that there should be legal due process and that what the Airforce are claiming that there was a compensation is not true, adding that since the creation of Nuwalege there is no any form of compensation.

He stated that the community is ready to move into any resettlement by the government because as it is now they did not have any place to go and this is the reason why we are urgently calling on the FCT minister, Nyeson Wike, to intervene.

“We want the government to build our houses for us, we are not asking government to give us money nor we are disobeying the government but we want the government to know that we are also citizens of this country and if they demolished our houses now where csn we go to. Some of us are Indigenes here, we were born and brought up here.

We want the government to go and do houses for us elsewhere, we will not fight government but they said there is no land.

“Airforce people have been coming here on countless times to take over the land but we have been asking them where is the resettlement that we have not seen anywhere they demolished indigenes without resettlement,” he said.

He further stated that they still have matters in court with the FCT minister and Nigeria Air Force and there is a court order that everybody should maintain status quo but still they do not respect that court order.

According to the chief ,the Airforce has been disturbing the Community for long with this issue of Demolition as a Host Community Whom accommodate must of their personnel, and other agencies like Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS),Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Etc.

He urged the government to do justice to the youths and the elderly women who are inhabitants of the community. Also call on other relevant human rights group and NGOS to Come to their aid.

Also speaking, a resident of the community, Samson Yalo, said he was born and grown up in the village. That he was four years when Nigeria got independent. Adding that now if they demolished the village where will he go?

He said the village has been in existence since.