We inherited Gbayi Villa from our ancestors -Residents

… Kaduna Polytechnic acquired the place about four decades ago – Rector Thousands of houses risk being demolished and thousands of persons including women, children, business men and retired civil servants, among others being rendered homeless as Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s bulldozer sets to demolish Gbagyi villa in Kaduna. Gbagyi villa is a community located behind […]

… Kaduna Polytechnic acquired the place about four decades ago – Rector

Thousands of houses risk being demolished and thousands of persons including women, children, business men and retired civil servants, among others being rendered homeless as Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s bulldozer sets to demolish Gbagyi villa in Kaduna.
Gbagyi villa is a community located behind Kaduna Polytechnic (By-pass) campus in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The community is inhabited by people of different languages, tribes and religions. It is a fast developing settlement with modern houses, schools, hotels, recreational centres, churches and shops among others.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai had promised to reclaim all public lands, including lands belonging to schools, hospitals and other government agencies. Following this, demolition exercises had taken place in areas including Millennium city layout, Alhudahuda College in Zaria, shops along WAEC road in Kawo, Maiduguri road, printers village, Muri road, Lokoja road, Gwari road and Yawuri road among others.
While lots of condemnation have come from some quarters, some are giving kudos to the governor, urging him to continue with the good work.
The parcel of land on which Gbagyi villa is situated has been a source of dispute between the Gbagyi people and the polytechnic, as the polytechnic claim ownership of the land while residents of the community claim that ancestral owners were not duly paid to enable the transfer of ownership from Gbagyi people to Kaduna Polytechnic.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that Kaduna Polytechnic has been lamenting over encroachment into its College of Administrative Studies and Social Sciences (CASSS) land. It was also gathered that after efforts put in place to stop further encroachment failed, the school sought the assistance of Governor El-Rufai to help it reclaim its parcel of land from the encroachers.
As part of steps towards reclaiming the land, the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Agency (KASUPDA) some weeks ago pasted a 21-day demolition notice on houses situated in Gbagyi villa. The notice, signed by the General Manager of the agency, Saratu Haruna, stated that the residents had embarked on developing structures illegally without obtaining permission.
Mr Agaba Philips has been residing in Gbagyi villa for over three years. He said there are so many intrigues to the issue on ground. He accused the KASUPDA of being fraudulent, as they were consulted before work began in the community.
He said “Before we started any work, we paid N12,000 for site analysis and another N17,000 for building permit and up to this moment, KASUPDA has not written to anybody that the building permit we applied for has been rejected. Only for them to bring notice that we built houses at Gbagyi villa without permission, but we paid via bank draft and we can tender it at any time.”
Based on Agada’s knowledge of the land, he said the whole issue started about five years ago. “There was a problem, the natives claimed that the polytechnic was not willing to compensate them for their land, so they took over the land. The matter got to court but when the polytechnic saw that they didn’t have a strong case, they opted for out of court settlement. The late Governor Ibrahim Yakowa mediated and they had an agreement, the SSG at that time was a party to it. The land was shared and the polytechnic demarcated its portion with a fence.”
Mr Agada advised Governor El-Rufai to think about what he wants to do, saying, they voted for progressive change and not retrogressive change.
It was gathered that some polytechnic staff are among those who encroached on the land. Some KASUPDA staff were also said to own properties at Gbagyi villa. Going by the demolition notice placed on the houses, a number of houses that were first marked were on Friday due for demolition, while others will be due on April 6, 2016.
According to the chairman of the community, Chris Obodumu and National Coordinator of SOKAPU Youth Wing, Nasiru Jagaba, there are no fewer than 3,000 fully developed modern housing units, 40 churches and over 35,000 inhabitants in the community.
They argued that both the Gbagyi villa land and polytechnic land were formally one piece of land, adding that it was the ancestral land of the Gbagyi people before part of it was acquired by Kaduna Polytechnic.
However, the erstwhile government of the late Governor Ibrahim Yakowa after due process through the court inaugurated a white paper committee in May 2011, which they said looked into the matter and amicably demarcated the boundary between the two parties.
The reason given by government for the impending exercise was inconsistent, said the residents. “KASUPDA, in their demolition notice alleged non-possession of planning permission, but the office of the governor through the Director – General in charge of lands said that the planned demolition is based on the reason that the community is situated on Kaduna Polytechnic land.”
The community called on Governor El-Rufai to take into cognisance the resolve of the white paper committee of the late Yakowa’s administration, as well as the order given by former Governor Ramalan Yero to demolish only portion of land inside the Polytechnic’s fence encroached upon by some unknown persons.
The Kaduna Polytechnic on its part said that the land on which Gbagyi villa is situated belongs to the polytechnic. The polytechnic’s rector, Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim, said there are facts and documents to show that the land legally belongs to the institution.
“Kaduna Polytechnic was originally owned by the northern states until 1992 when the Federal Government took over. When it was under the 19 northern states, the states contributed money and acquired land for expansion. Precisely in 1975, the institution sought allocation of land from the then North-Central State. The institution applied for the land, the application received attention and the land area was sited totaling 999.7 acres; approximately 1,000 acres.
“In 1976, the process and procedure for release of the land started and by 1977, payment of compensation and entitlements for economic trees, farmland and few houses yet to be concluded began. A total of N168,169 was paid to a total number of 158 people as compensation. The compensation was worked out by the state Ministry of Lands and Survey initially for economic trees and farmland but another appeal was made by people who had houses on the land that they too be compensated.
“The Polytechnic started receiving reports of encroachment on the land in 2009 and it reported the issue to the Police, DSS and the state government before resorting to legal action. It took the ownership of the land after due process,” he said.
He, however, said he wants the world to know that the polytechnic’s land is being encroached upon in spite of the late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa’s intervention.
“…As I am talking to you now, there has been further encroachment on the land by some people in the community, so we want our lands back because we have all documents and facts, including the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to claim the land,” the Rector said.