More than 200 families who resided in Nuwalege, a rural community along the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Road in Abuja, have been reportedly rendered homeless, following the demolition of their homes to accommodate an extension of the Presidential Air Fleet.

The demolition was carried out by the Federal Capital Development Authority, at the request of the Nigerian Air Force, The PUNCH learnt.

Subsequently, the displaced residents were forced to seek shelter in nearby communities, including Zamani, Sauka, Giri, Iddo, Gwagwalada, and others.

Details of the PAF project and its funding were not available but there are indications the project would commence soon as NAF personnel had been mobilised to the project site ahead of construction activities.

However, the affected families said they had not received compensation from the Nyesom Wike-led Federal Capital Territory Administration, the Nigeria Air Force and the Ministry of Aviation.

On Wednesday, one of our correspondents, who visited Nuwalege, previously inhabited by Abuja natives and other Nigerians, was prevented from accessing the community by heavily armed Air Force personnel guarding the site.

Last December, during a citizens’ engagement with the community, the Director of the FCT Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima, said the Air Force had written to the FCT minister giving notice of the plan to relocate the residents, noting, however, that the status of compensation for the people was uncertain.

“We will discuss with the Air Force because obviously, discussions behind the scenes indicate that some forms of compensation were paid. We are going to conduct further investigation by engaging the FCT Department of Resettlement and Compensation as well as the Nigerian Air Force and find out if compensation has been paid, to whom, and when,” Galadima said.

Addressing journalists after the demolition in January, the director claimed the residents were given a two-month notice before the exercise, adding that his office had informed the Air Force of the administration’s policy on relocating indigenous communities.

“We informed the residents residing on the Nigeria Air Force land about the impending action and granted them a two-month window to pack their belongings.

“When the Air Force approached us, we told them about the FCTA policy on relocation and resettlement of indigenous communities. However, other non-indigenes are to be moved out of the location so that the Air Force can take over their land.

“The structures belonging to indigenes were left out because statutorily they have to be relocated and compensated, that’s why we are not touching their properties,” he stated.

Displaced residents

However, residents of the community told The PUNCH on Thursday that they were not notified of the demolition beforehand or paid any form of compensation, adding that no house was spared in the community during the demolition exercise.

An artisan, Wisdom James, disclosed that the residents were earlier informed the demolition would take place in another two years. However, the authorities came not long after to clear the community, he claimed.

“I live in Zamani now, but I’m from Nuwalege. They demolished our house in January. There was no information (prior to the demolition). The place they marked for demolition is not the place they demolished. They didn’t tell us when they would be coming.

“At a time, they told us they had shifted the demolition until the next two years. But in two days, they were there with bulldozers and started work. They didn’t pay us anything,” she told The PUNCH.

Speaking on the legal action by the residents, James said they each contributed between N2,500 and N10,000 to seek justice, adding that nothing had come of it.

“We made some contributions to take the issue to court. I paid N2,500. We were meeting in Sauka. After meeting about six times, there was nothing like that again. The money we gathered, we don’t know where they took it to, and we weren’t paid back.”

An indigene of the community, Obadiah Tanko, said the natives had lived there long before the Air Force base was built next to it, pointing out that some of their ancestors were buried in the site that now belonged to the NAF.

“I’ve been living in Nuwalege for 15 years, though I am an indigene. When they (FCDA) first came, they used beacons to mark some places. That was years ago. So, we took the issue to court, because before the (Air Force) base was built, we used to farm there. But they shifted us towards the river. Some of our grandfathers were buried where the base is now.

“They did an initial demolition in 2007. When they came, they told us only part of the place would be demolished. Before we knew it, we were told it would be the whole thing, although they didn’t demolish mine because I’m an indigene. Some people who are Bassa and Gbagyi are still there. None of the victims were told they would be paid anything, and none of them has received any payment,” he added.

Another former resident of the community, Folashade Olatunde, recounted her ordeal, stating that she slept in a classroom for two weeks after her home was demolished.

She eventually found an apartment in the Zamani community.

The mother of five lamented that her family was no longer staying together since the forceful eviction and demolition, adding that the FCDA destroyed more than 200 houses in Nuwalege.

Olatunde stated, “We left the community on January 15, 2024. They didn’t pay us any compensation, nothing at all. They just pursued everybody. I found money to rent a one-room apartment in Zamani after two weeks of sleeping in a primary school in the harsh cold.

“My family and I are separated, and I had to take some of our property back home. I have been staying here since then. I stay here with my husband and my two youngest children. My oldest son and the one immediately after him sleep in a nearby church, while my daughter is in Ekiti with my family. They scattered my family.

“The houses demolished are more than 200, every house was demolished. None was left standing. The leader of those of us who are Yoruba also lives down the road here in a self-contained apartment.

“We paid N20,000 and at another time N15,000 for a petition against the way the houses were demolished. They gave us a receipt with the promise to pay some money into our accounts and since then, nothing has happened.”

Another victim, Mrs Elizabeth Olushola, said her home and a block of four classrooms she built were demolished in the exercise, also stating that she had not been compensated by the government.

“I lived in Nuwalege for seven years. They did not tell us that they were going to demolish our community. But we saw them in 2023 when the FCDA came to mark some houses there.

“They said that was the only part they would demolish. Eventually, we saw that they had gone beyond where they marked, and they started demolishing everywhere and people had to start rushing out.

“There was no information, we just saw their bulldozers on January 15, 2024, and they started demolishing. I had a school there, a block of four classrooms; I also had a shop and everything was cleared off. We opened the school on January 9 and by January 15, they had demolished it. We had our own house, a two-bedroom flat, and a shop. They were both demolished too,” Olushola stated.

Asked if she was paid compensation, she added, “They didn’t give us any money, nobody even approached us. They didn’t resettle us here (new residence) either, we moved here and we rented an apartment here.

“The government should compensate us because I see this as suffering. Even to get the money for the rent, we had to borrow from one person or the other. Things are very difficult, I plead with the government to compensate us, I don’t know how true the resettlement plan is, but they should compensate us.”

A Point-of-Sale terminal operator and liquor store owner, Chukwuemeka Nwokoli, recounted that the initial information given was that the NAF Base along the Airport Road wanted to extend their fence by 100 metres.

Believing that his home would not be affected, Nwokoli remained in the community until January 15, when the bulldozers arrived to clear the buildings.

He said, “Last year in October, at about midnight, we started hearing people running around and they were shouting that the Air Force had come to demolish. And truly we saw their Hilux vehicles. People were scampering.

“Some days later some people came, they said they were from the FCDA and they came to mark the houses to be demolished. We heard from them that the Air Force wanted to extend their fence by 100m.

“People who were to be affected started moving. Community leaders and stakeholders held meetings and they said they were in court and told everyone to abide by the court order. The court order said nobody should build any new house so that the NAF won’t demolish it.”

Nwokoli added, “By the New Year, we saw bulldozers close to their fence. Some started packing immediately. We stayed behind believing nothing would happen. By January 14, a whole section of the community was gone. No sign, no notice that this was when the demolition would start. So, I had to rush here to this place (Zamani).”

Nwokoli explained that he did not join the suit instituted against the government.

“There was nothing like compensation, nobody talked to us even till now. Even the (community) chief was slapped by the soldiers. After the demolition, some people came together to collect funds to fight the case, but I said I was not interested, because of my belief that some would take advantage to extort people. They said they had a lawyer to help them. If there was going to be compensation, I don’t think the houses would have been demolished first.”

Mrs Josephine Johnson, a school teacher, who had lived in the community for over 10 years, shared a similar story, adding that the FCDA bulldozers cleared the house and she was not paid any compensation.

“I was living in the Nuwalege community, and I was teaching in a school there. I got married there, so I lived there for roughly 10 years. We had our own house, a two-bedroom flat. Before the demolition, there was no notice. We only noticed bulldozers in the community, and that was the only thing that gave us a sense of how serious they were.

“I have four kids and we moved here with my husband, living in a one-bedroom flat. Before we rented this place, we had to squat with a brother for some time. We weren’t given anything as compensation. There was no promise or guarantee. If there was, maybe I didn’t hear it,” she stated.

Titus Bitrus, also an artisan, who lived in the community for more than 16 years, bemoaned his current status as a squatter after his home was pulled down.

“I had my own house and even had tenants. Because of the demolition, I had to move my family to Kaduna to a land I acquired there. There was no notice of the demolition, we just woke up one morning and saw bulldozers.

“My house wasn’t part of those initially marked for demolition, but it was between some of them. So, when they did the demolition, my house also went with it. I now live here in Zamani with my brother,” he said.

NAF spokesperson, AVM Edward Gabkwet, urged the victims to take their case to the Ministry of Defence or the FCTA.

He noted that NAF doesn’t pay compensation for lands allocated to it by the Federal Government.

Gabkwet said, “Please, tell them to refer their matter to the Ministry of Defence or at best, the Federal Capital Territory Administration. NAF does not compensate for lands allocated to it by the FG.”

Presidency

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, directed our correspondent to the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

He said, “I don’t know about it and there is no way I can react to what I don’t know. I think you should talk to the Minister of Aviation or NSA. Those are the people that the presidential fleet is directly under their purview.

“Presidential air fleet is about national security, and that is under the purview of the NSA. And the other part is the Minister of Aviation.”

But Keyamo did not address the issue of compensation as he simply referred our correspondent to a report in which the FCT minister promised to compensate the Jiwa community whose land was acquired for the second runway for the Abuja airport.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, Henshaw Ogubike, didn’t pick his calls and was yet to respond to a message sent to his phone on the matter as at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, the FCT Director of Development Control, Galadima, could not be reached for comments on compensation for the displaced community as he did not respond to multiple phone calls, SMS and a WhatsApp message.

Our correspondent visited his office but was informed that he was in a meeting.

Also, the FCT Director of Resettlement and Compensation, Nasiru Sulaiman, asked for time to get the correct information on the issue.

Credit: PUNCH