Natives of Kpaduma of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have dragged the FCT administration to court over the demolition of their houses, demanding the sum of N10,000,000,000 from the FCTA as compensation for damages during the demolition exercise.
Lawyer of Kpaduma communities, Sylvester Ogbelu, said after the court proceedings at FCT High Court at Life Camp in Abuja yesterday, said they are in court to challenge the demolition of the houses of Kpaduma natives, against pending court orders restraining the FCTA or any developers from taking any action against the communities
“We are also challenging the FCTA for the torture, harassment, victimization, oppression, and the kind of hardship the people were put into in the course of the demolition. We have come to tell the court that the FCTA was wrong in demolishing their houses when there is a pending court order stopping them from demolishing.
“We are presently calling on the court to restrain the FCTA from further action for demolition and we are asking for N10bn compensation for the wrongful act they committed and the court has the jurisdiction and discretion to grant it,” he said.
“We have been threatened, marginalized, and harassed by the FCTA. We have experienced all kinds of abuse of our fundamental rights. Our houses were demolished in December last year when we were supposed to be celebrating Christmas and New Year, but rather we were in pain during the period.
“We trust that the court will give us justice and the compensation will be paid. We will also be asking for them to rebuild the houses that they demolished. Because we are natives of Abuja and not aliens,” he said.
Also speaking, the spokesperson of Kpaduma communities, Hon. Bala Iyah, lamented that the FCTA does not consider the plight of natives of the FCT, that the demolition of houses belonging to natives can not happen in any other part of Nigeria, apart from the FCT.
“We are aware of our rights, that is why we are in the court because our hope is in the court. The land policy said that if the FCT wants to do anything concerning land matters, they should involve the leaders and let them know their intention, but they have never come to us concerning that.
“Just overnight they came to demolish our houses. The damage has been done, so they should compensate us for the damage and trauma that they have caused us and then rebuild our houses which were demolished by the FCTA,” he said.