Tension rose yesterday in Salanta quarters of Kano metropolis as residents sought to resist the demolition squad sent to the area by the state government in continuation of the pulling down of alleged illegal structures.
They include a three storey plaza consisting of over 90 shops on the Race Course, Nasarawa GRA, worth over N100 billion and the almost completed 90-room Five-Star Daula Boutique Hotel costing over N10 billion.
Thousands of people have been displaced on account of the demolition and more structures are billed for flattening as sanction for what the government called encroachment on public land.
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The government yesterday confirmed the death of two persons it described as scavengers in the aftermath of the demolition.
It commiserated with the bereaved families but warned scavengers to keep away from demolished structures, warning that scavenging on the sites of the demolished structures across the state is not only criminal, but dangerous to human safety.
Governor Abba Yusuf gave the go ahead for the exercise six days after his assumption of power. He had accused his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje of giving out public land to private individuals.
Ganduje dismissed the allegation and said some of the structures were approved by his executive council as Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.
The government’s bulldozers first rolled over the Kano Race Course where the three storey plaza consisting of 90 shops was reduced to rubble.
The governor then ordered developers in the Hajj Camp area to stop construction.
But as soon as the night fell, the bulldozers roared back into action, leveling all buildings there.
Also demolished were the 90 per cent completed Five-Star Daula Boutique Hotel and the N160 million Golden Monument, which the government said it pulled down because it carried the cross in a state with a large Muslim population.
But the demolition took a twist yesterday when residents of Salanta Quarters sought to physically stop the demolition of their buildings by the government task force allegedly without prior notice and compensation.
They claimed to have followed due process in buying the land from the Ganduje administration.
One of the residents who appeared to be injured during the pushing and shoving that ensued between them and the demolition squad was seen on video calling for help from someone by phone.
Another one was heard saying:“You cannot demolish our properties overnight without prior notification when we have all our documents intact. We all have our families here, and this is injustice. They have voted calamity for us.
“They have demolished our shops in the market, and now they have returned to our residences without any compensation. We will die here, and if you demolish this house, it will (be a curse on) your life.”
Some others chanted Allahu Akbar! (God is the greatest) and vowed to protect their properties from demolition.
Lamash Properties Limited, the developer of the properties on the old Daula Hotel land, has gone to court ,seeking a compensation of N10billion from the state government.
It described the demolition of its properties as a “flagrant disregard for globally acceptable principle of fair hearing.”
Lamash, in a statement by its Director of Sales, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar,said it was invited by the State government alongside other companies in 2020 to bid for the redevelopment of the old Daula Hotel under a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
His words:“We submitted a bid of three components:
* Residential – to comprise 25 luxury apartments
* Commercial Hub – Various sizes of lettable commercial space
* Daula Boutique Hotel – A 90-room five star hotel
“Our bid, like every other bid submitted, went through all the processes including going before the State Executive Council after which we won the bid. We were issued the letter of award and we signed a PPP contract agreement with the Kano state government after which we began work on the project.
Lamash Properties Limited, the developer of the properties on the old Daula Hotel land, has gone to court, seeking a compensation of N10billion from the state government.
It described the demolition of its properties as a “flagrant disregard for globally acceptable principle of fair hearing.”
Lamash, in a statement by its Director of Sales, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, said it was invited by the State government alongside other companies in 2020 to bid for the redevelopment of the old Daula Hotel under a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
His words: “We submitted a bid of three components:
* Residential – to comprise 25 luxury apartments
* Commercial Hub – Various sizes of lettable commercial space
* Daula Boutique Hotel – A 90-room five star hotel.
(Nation)
