Politics of demolition in Kaduna
Nigerians received with great shock the news on Tuesday last week, Feb. 20 that Kaduna State Government bulldozers demolished a building located at No.11b Sambo Road, Kaduna. It belonged to Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi [APC, Kaduna North] and housed the secretariat of a faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. The demolition elicited outrage and […]
Nigerians received with great shock the news on Tuesday last week, Feb. 20 that Kaduna State Government bulldozers demolished a building located at No.11b Sambo Road, Kaduna. It belonged to Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi [APC, Kaduna North] and housed the secretariat of a faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. The demolition elicited outrage and condemnations from various quarters.
Kaduna State Geographical Information Service (KADGIS) later said the building was removed for alleged “flagrant violations of land use and non-payment of ground rent since 2010.” KADGIS, in a statement by its Director General Ibrahim Husseini said the building was a source of distress for neighbours who were being forced to endure influx of thugs and blockage of the road. He said the agency issued a revocation notice of statutory right of occupancy No. KD 16712, adding that the appropriate notice of revocation was delivered at 28 Inuwa Wada Road, the registered address of the company that held the title to the property. He said the land had been transferred to KASUPDA for the purpose of developing and maintaining a public park that would “provide a green area and a serene place for recreation in that residential neighbourhood.”
The speed with which the building was demolished and the alleged offences befuddled all observers, coming only days after the property was decorated with insignia as factional office of the Hunkuyi-led APC faction. Hunkuyi alleged that Governor Nasiru El- Rufa’i personally drove the bulldozer. The Army was alleged to have provided cover for the demolition though Army authorities in Kaduna denied it. It was far from clear if KADGIS exhausted all legal means through the courts and received clearance to go ahead with the demolition.
Before the demolition, the state APC chapters loyal to El-Rufa’i and Hunkuyi had traded queries and suspension of members. Sadly, when the two were still friends, the same building served as base for El-Rufai’s gubernatorial campaign. After the elections which el-Rufa’i won, the same building reportedly served as APC state secretariat before it relocated to Ali Akilu Road. Though Senator Hunkuyi initially said he had forgotten everything and was looking ahead, he took to his twitter handle two days later, saying another property of his had been earmarked by El- Rufa’i for demolition.
Prior to this sad development, Kaduna APC had three factions. These are APC Akida headed by Senator Shehu Sani; APC Restoration Group headed by Tijjani Ramalan and APC Aspirants’ Forum headed by Hunkuyi. This is not the first time that Kaduna State government demolished a political opponent’s house. Two years ago a building belonging to APC’s National Vice Chairman, North West Barrister Inuwa Abdulkadir was demolished by Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KASUPDA for alleged building violations. Abdulkadir alongside other party leaders were at the time intervening in the crisis in the state’s APC chapter, apparently to the governor’s dissatisfaction. The case is still in court.
Demolishing the houses of people who had political quarrels with the governor is outrageous, in bad taste and a very sad commentary on political maturity, decency and democracy in this country. Even if property owners did not pay ground rent as KADGIS alleged, the law never said the property should be demolished. The selective nature in which it is done also makes all observers to believe it is a case of excessive political intolerance.
This is coming at a time when President Muhammadu Buhari constituted a reconciliation committee under APC’s National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu with clear mandate to tour all states, reach out to aggrieved members and reconcile with them. The Senate which has an APC majority has condemned the demolition of Senator Hunkuyi’s building while APC headquarters set up another committee headed by Engr. Segun Oni to resolve the crisis. Whether a crisis is intra or inter-party, we expect authorities to refrain from the kind of abuse of state agencies that in the past helped to discredit civilian rule and bring down republics.