Lawyers under the aegis of Anambra State Indigenous Lawyers Forum (ASILF) has called on the Federal Government to quickly look into the matter of property demolition in Abuja, noting that the way and manner some properties have been demolished is worrisome and have adverse effects on the economy. The group at a press conference held in Lagos yesterday ,bemoaned the gestapo approach used by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in some property demolition in FCT.
Having deliberated over what they called violation of a judicial process, ASILF stated that some properties which according to them, was acquired legitimately by some individuals are demolished, citing the case of Nicholas Ukachukwu, a businessman and property developer in Abuja whose properties worth millions of dollars were destroyed.
ASILF President, Joe Nwokedi, noted that the demolition action on Ukachukwu’s property by the Minister was against a pending court order, adding that judicial process should have prevailed in that circumstance.
“We called this press conference primarily to bring to public knowledge the illegality, intimidation and humiliation on some individuals going on in the country.
“When we began to see things like this happen, we presume that it is all about the tensions generated by the last general election. Unfortunately, we also saw it transcend, culminating in the Minister carrying out a demolition exercise on a lawfully acquired property of one Nicholas Ukachukwu in Abuja.
“To the best of our knowledge, there was a court order to stay execution. And the FCT Minister, being privy to that, stated that court orders could be purchased from anywhere. It was also alleged that the Minister said, “How could an Igbo man be given all these land.” By the way of accenting to the public views on the statement, we believed that it is uncalled for, and could be termed a gross violation of section 42 of chapter 4 of the Nigerian constitution as amended; which says that “nobody should be discriminated upon by the virtue of his place of birth, religion, colour and tribe,” Nwokedi stated.
In his contribution, the Legal Adviser of the association,Chief Chuks Nnalugha, said that Nigeria is an amalgamation of many entities, and therefore, people should be freely allowed to exercise their rights in acquisition of property, choice of religion, right of movement and other things within the territory that make up Nigeria.
According to him, since there was an order of the court, all the Honourable Minister need to do is to vacate the order and make sure that rules and process are followed.
“We want the federal government to intervene on the matter and as well, call the Honourable Minister to order. We believe that the best thing to do is to follow due process, go to court and get valid order of demolition. If there is a contention, an arbiter should not be the decider of a matter. This is why we have that arm of government for proper resolution”Nnalugha siad.
Also contributing,Anene Nwadukwe,the National Public Relations Officer said, “We, the Anambra Indigenous Lawyers Forum urge him to rescind his actions and to correct the wrongs under which we will deem it necessary to join issues and go to court to challenge such anomalies.
He said that ASILF unanimously lend their voice to the gross violation of rule of law and court orders in the demolition of legally acquired properties under FCT and elsewhere in the country.
He also decried the impunity of action, stating that private individuals who are helping to develop the country’s infrastructure should not be hounded like criminals.
The other ASILF executives at the press conference are Nkechi Iloegbulam and Malize Iwudoh