A group of civil society organizations under the aegis of Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to Governor Yusuf Abba of Kano State to stop the ongoing demolition in the state and compensate the victims who lost their Properties during the process or be prepared to face legal action.
Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, National Coordinator of the Coalition, handed down the ultimatum on Tuesday while addressing a press conference in Abuja.
Ogenyi who described the demolition as unlawful and inhumane, said that it is a sad era in the history of Kano State that a government saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and property is the one demolishing structures legally built by citizens and investors with their hard-earned resources thereby inflicting pain on the people.
The group then call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly intervene and call Governor Abba Yusuf to order to stop further illegal demolition of the property leading to loss of lives in the State.
He said; “We believe that the situation in Kano if not halted is capable of causing unrest which may affect the whole country. Something must be done urgently to stop this madness.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly intervene and call Governor Abba Yusuf to order to stop further illegal demolition of the property leading to loss of lives in the State.
“We are making this appeal in the national interest because we know the implications of any possible crisis in Kano state is the most populous state in Nigeria. If the misgovernance of Governor Abba Yusuf leads to a crisis in Kano state (God forbid) it will affect negatively the whole of Nigeria. That is why we are calling on voices of reason now, not only to call Governor Abba Yusuf to order but to prevail on him to quickly reverse his actions by calling all the affected persons to a roundtable for an amicable resolution.
“We hereby give Governor Yusuf a 72-hour ultimatum to retrace his steps and stop the ongoing demolitions, call the affected persons and group for proper compensation or face legal action. We shall continue to engage the Kano State Government until justice is served.”
He continued that the government had demolished a three-storey Plaza consisting of ninety shops, the five-star Daula Hotel almost completed with ninety rooms worth over 10 billion Naira.
He added that due to the governor’s Actions thousands of people have been displaced with him paying no attention to their suffering, stating that the government has vowed to cause more harm to the people by continuing the demolition exercise.
“We have watched with keen interest, the level of destruction done in Kano metropolis including the loss of over twenty lives of innocent Nigerians who died during the process of the unlawful demolition of property in the state. The government claimed that two persons died but our team members who were in Kano said over twenty persons have died which is a serious concern for the human rights community.
“More worrisome is the trend of successive governors destroying legacies of the previous administration in a quest to slight the out-gone Governor either based on hatred or fear of popularity among others. It happened in Imo State when former Governor Emeka Ihedoha maliciously demolished edifices built by the administration of Rochas Okorocha, the Governor of Niger State is also demolishing property perceived to have belonged to his predecessor, what a show of shame.”