Makurdi locals in showdown with the Airforce

Residents of the community recently took to the streets to protest against demolition of their buildings by NAF. NAF had in August last year marked some houses in the area for demolition on ground that the federal government rightly acquired the land for it. Akpen people who have lived there for over 50 years argued […]

Residents of the community recently took to the streets to protest against demolition of their buildings by NAF. NAF had in August last year marked some houses in the area for demolition on ground that the federal government rightly acquired the land for it. Akpen people who have lived there for over 50 years argued that soldiers overstretched their limit by asking them to leave.
Our correspondent on a visit to the community gathered that the villagers have coexisted peacefully with the command for many years until July last year when the Airforce began to lay claim to the land and consequently marked houses there for demolition.
Moses Joko whose two-bedroom flat under construction was demolished by men of the Airforce lamented, “They destroyed many houses, both uncompleted and completed. They didn’t give us any notice. They just came and started pulling down structures, most of which were newly erected.”
 Joko said the land dispute first came into mention in 1983 and nothing was heard of it again until mid last year when the Airforce started making fresh trouble with the community. “They started claiming this land. Our fathers have been here since 1950. This matter was taken to court,” he added.
Corroborating him, Gabriel Iortyer said, “We’ve lived here before the barracks came into existence in 1972. The church, you see here was built in 1970. It was formally located in the command lodge but was relocated to the present place to pave way for the buildings in the barracks.”
As for Terlumun Iortyom, his father was among the first three families that settled on the land long before Nigeria gained independence and that the thatched family compound in which they still occupy was built before the Airforce base came into being.
“Our family house has existed in this same place that I’m standing since 1959. It is sad that the Airforce just came in here with their bulldozer without asking any question and started taking action. They were with guns and so we couldn’t do anything to repel them. When we saw them, we had to run away. Now, most of us have lost our property to bad boys who stole them as we ran away on sighting the soldiers. Youths in frustration only demonstrated their grievances by making bonfire on the road to attract sympathy of passersby to their plight,” Iortyom explained.
There is no school or clinic in the village with a population said to be less than 1,000 except for the presence of regular electricity supply. The community shares a 10-metre space with the Airforce base fence.
The parish priest of St. Francis Catholic Church, Akpen, the only worship centre in the community, Rev. Fr. Gabriel Ugwumnwangwu wants peace to reign. To demonstrate this, he said they had withdrawn the legal suit against the command to enable an out of court settlement.
 The priest appealed to the soldiers to give the villagers a listening ear so that the matter can be resolved amicably. He stated, “I came here in January this year when the houses were already marked for demolition. The case was in court as the time of my resumption. When the villagers withdrew the case from court, the Air force on the very next day resurfaced to mark more buildings for demolition.
 “We [villagers] requested for audience but they didn’t reply us. Suddenly, they came and started the demolition. They wanted to demolish my residence and asked the people they met in the house to pack out things. But the house was spared after church higher authorities and the state government intervened. This church is not exclusive to the community,” he appealed.
 However, while briefing journalists at the Tactical Air Command shortly before its bulldozer went into action, the Command’s Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa affirmed that NAF owns about 4,835 hectares of the land which was duly approved by the federal government. He said over the years, NAF had observed encroachment on its land by unscrupulous individuals from the two communities of Ugondo and Akpen who had initially instituted court action against NAF and the state government only to withdraw the case later to enable an out of court settlement.
“The legal process gave rise to a court injunction restricting further developments on the land. While the injunction may not be said to hold any longer given that the cases had been withdrawn from the court, it’s sad to note that fresh developments have since begun to come up on the land,” he said.
The CPRO added that the decision to pull down the emerging new structures was in order to maintain status-quo-ante because the command could no longer tolerate irresponsible acts of a few selfish individuals who had continued to exhibit outright disregard for the law.
However the community people who made bonfires on the ever busy Gboko Road to express their displeasure over the soldiers’ action accused the Airforce of insincerity just as their women and children held their heads and cried out loudly.  An affected landlord, Gunji Ephraim alleged that NAF “deceived” them to withdraw their case for an out of court settlement only for it to turn round and demolish their property.
His views were shared by rtd. MWO Ejeh James, who retired from the command to settle with his family in a bungalow he built with his retirement benefits. “I served in the same barrack and retired a year ago. My children were in the house when they came and pulled down my fence. My children begged them to stay action after revealing my identity but they refused. These [soldiers] are my people but see what they have done to me.
“I started building this house about 2010 and nobody told me anything. We’re two retired Airforce men living in this community. I have even gone to the command earlier over the matter but they came to demolish my fence without notice. I served the Airforce for 35 years yet they have no regard for me,” James lamented.
Daily Trust had before the demolition exercise reported the concerns of Akpen community over threat by NAF to take over their inheritance. But the Airforce until the visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Nigeria Airforce in October last year on fact finding mission about the land in dispute had kept mute.
The chairman of the House committee, Kenneth Archibong during the visit advised encroachers to desist from doing so as the land in his judgment belongs to the Airforce. “We’ve gone to see the land in dispute. We advised the community to stop selling NAF land to unsuspecting Nigerians. It’s good they stay off NAF land,” he stated then.
Meanwhile, the Benue State House of Assembly has waded into the matter, urging the Nigerian Airforce to stop further demolition until proper investigations are concluded while appealing to the people to be calm.
Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Terhile Ayua who announced the decision of the House directed its House committee on Public Petition to urgently investigate the dispute between the locals and the tactical command.
 Our correspondent reports that most of the demolished houses were huts and residential flats newly constructed, perhaps to serve as a warning to what the soldiers have described as “encroachments”.
 Nevertheless, all the houses spared including the church and have been marked in a red ink with “NAF” written boldly suggesting future demolition even as the Airforce had already commenced digging of a fresh fence that will likely encircle the entire community.
At the moment, it is not clear whether the command will obey the decision of the state Assembly and the state government which through its Ministry of Lands had intervened.