Demolitions should follow due process

Demolition of residential places and business premises usually carried out by state governments and some other authorities like the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is an act that naturally generates utmost concern and outcry. The hardships to which the victims of such destruction are subjected are both noticeable and crippling enough to necessitate an interrogation […]

Demolition of residential places and business premises usually carried out by state governments and some other authorities like the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is an act that naturally generates utmost concern and outcry. The hardships to which the victims of such destruction are subjected are both noticeable and crippling enough to necessitate an interrogation of their causes and scopes.

In some states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja,  hundreds of residents and business owners have been rendered either homeless or jobless or even both as a result of the demolition of what authorities always like to call ‘illegal structures’. Having lost their places of living and/or means of livelihood to various demolitions such people have now found themselves in a state of helplessness.

In Kaduna, Lagos and Kano states as well as the FCT, a lot of residents lost structures of which they were either owners or tenants; a reality that portends grave implications for social stability and economic growth at both community and national levels.

In 2015, for example, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’i as the Governor of Kaduna State ordered the demolition of 93 houses that were said to have been built on the premises of Alhudahuda College Zaria. Several other demolitions to which hundreds of families fell victims were also intermittently carried out in some other cities of the state.

The destruction, in 2023, of over 600 buildings in FESTAC area of Lagos as well as in such other locations as Ikota, Ajah and Epe jointly executed by the Federal Housing Authority and the Lagos State Building Control Authority were equally inimical to the well-being and prosperity of the owners. It is quite clear that a lot of communities in Lagos have been affected, in one way or another, by the approach of relevant authorities to town planning and development.

In terms of the degree of devastation, the demolition carried out by the Kano State Government under Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf in its early days was exceptional. The strategy that was deployed and the scope of the destruction constituted a source of concern for the owners of the properties and a basis of intensive interrogation of the motive behind it.

The particular demolition of 130 buildings at Hajj Camp which were a business hub in Kano City by the Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority elicited tremendous sympathy. Neither the accusation by Governor Yusuf that the allocation of the plots by the immediate past state government under Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was not done in accordance with due process nor the argument that the existence of the properties was inimical to public interests was given a favourable consideration.

In the FCT, especially within the satellite towns, demolition of structures is a familiar phenomenon which causes a lot of stress to the low-income earners, most of whom are usually unable to acquire accommodation in the capital city. As infrastructural development continually extends to outskirts, a lot of residents are pushed out of their settlements, which is the reason for the rapid growth of the number of displaced persons in the territory.

Meanwhile, it is important to consider some of the reasons that the authorities give for demolitions. The obvious violation of due process in the allocation or acquisition as well as the development of plots or even improper utilisation are, in most cases the causes of destruction of structures by government. The complaints by the relevant agencies that demolition are carried out only when rules guiding the land acquisition and development are broken are largely genuine.

It is, however, the opinion of this newspaper that all these excuses are not strong enough to constitute a justification for some of the demolitions or the apparent insensitivity to the plight of the victims being shown by government. This is because some of the structures were erected after ‘approvals’ by state government officials who have been compromised.

Destruction of properties late in the night or at some other odd times without allowing the owners to take out their valuables and a refusal to provide succour for victims clearly show lack of compassion.

Equally, the tendency of some state governors to use the Land Use Act, which gives them power over land as an instrument of victimisation of political opponents, negates the principles of democracy.  Such a wrongful application of the law just to get at political opponents either as individuals or even communities is one other ugly story about the demolition of structures in some of the states.

These are the major concerns about the demolition that need to be satisfactorily addressed. The government should, as a matter of utmost priority and urgency, introduce measures that can serve as safeguards against improper allocation of spaces and in such cases, whenever there is demolition, there should be relief for those who have already become victims.

Government must also punish its officials who corruptly approved plots and building plans only for such buildings to be demolished after being found to be in breach of the laid down rules.