Widow, 58, rendered homeless in ‘government’s error’

The operation was carried out by policemen on the orders of a rent tribunal which ruled that the house belongs to the Borno Emirate Council and that for years, she occupied the house illegally. This, the woman however, insisted wasn’t true because in her view, she lawfully bought the house through an owner-occupier policy from […]

The operation was carried out by policemen on the orders of a rent tribunal which ruled that the house belongs to the Borno Emirate Council and that for years, she occupied the house illegally. This, the woman however, insisted wasn’t true because in her view, she lawfully bought the house through an owner-occupier policy from the Borno State government, back in 2003 during the administration of late Mala Kachalla.

Hajara worked as a nurse with the Borno State sports council for over 35 years before she retired last December. She told Kanem Trust that her ordeal started no sooner than she acquired the property from the state government. According to her, one Bakura Deribe who is an in- law to the late Shehu, told her that the property she was occupying was not for the poor and so she should vacate the property.

“The house was sublet to me in 1996 when I was still working with the Borno Sport Council. So, in 2003 I bought the property from the state government on owner-occupier basis during former governor Malla Kachalla’s regime with the sum of N820,000. No sooner than we moved to the house than one Bakura Deribe came to me and said I should leave the house because it was not for the poor. So, the matter was taken to court and seeing that he could not eject me because I have my entire documents, the emirate council now took over the case,” she said.

The retired civil servant claimed that neither she nor her lawyer was notified when the judgment for her eviction was passed on March 21, 2010.

“All I saw was a letter of eviction from the house which was served by 2 pm, notifying me to vacate the property on or before March 31, 2010. “We rushed to the Rent Tribunal but they had closed,” she added. The following morning which was April 1, 2010, what the woman dreaded took place. She said her family members were still sleeping when some policemen and royal guards from the Shehu’s palace informed them that they were ordered to be evicted by a Rent Tribunal in Maiduguri. “They broke the doors and threw our belongings out before taking over the house.” she lamented.

When Kanem Trust contacted the Borno Emirate Council, Zanna Laisu, secretary of the emirate council, described her claims as untrue, saying the property belonged to the emirate council and was rent outed to the state government. According to him, the property was sold out in error to her during the administration of Malla Kashalla.

“The house originally belongs to the Borno Native Authority and was rented out to the state government. The government never checked their documents well. It was after selling the property to her that they realised it was sold in error. We gave her enough time to leave the house but she refused, claiming to have documents for the house,” he said.

According to him, due process was followed before she was ejected after several chances were given to her to vacate the house to which she refused and hence, the emirate council went to court to seek redress. “Judgment was delivered in favour of the emirate after about seven years of legal battle because everybody knows that the emirate council owns the property and we have all the documents for the property. The court ejected her and not the emirate,” he added.

For now, Hajara has remained outside the house with her properties beneath a tree, causing a stare. Though she may have deployed that strategy to attract sympathy and cause public outcry against the palace, from what is evident, she is made homeless, courtesy of an error in procurement.