They murdered my son for a crime he didn’t commit, bereaved father cries By Caleb Ayansina Following the demolition in Suleja, the headquarters of the Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State, on June 23, residents are still counting their losses. •Agu… policemen killed my son Trouble started when the Suleja Chairman, Abdullahi Shuaibu Maje, with a team of enforcement officers and security personnel, besieged the Old Army Barrack, Suleja to enforce a quit notice issued to the 10,000 occupants of the long disputed land. Sunday Vanguard gathered that the occupants cut across peasants, retirees from the Nigerian Army, the Federal Ministry of Defence, Niger State government and Suleja LGA some businessmen who wanted to develop some parcels of land. The presence of an earth moving machine angered the youths in the community who vehemently resisted the demolition. The situation, which started with the stoning of the team and security operatives, degenerated to the setting ablaze of the equipment brought in for the exercise. This led to the police firing live bullets, first into the air sporadically before it went out of control, leaving about three people dead and several injured, including some police officers. Narrating his ordeal, Mr George Agu, the father of a dead victim, David Obadiah, who expressed sadness, said his son was never a hoodlum. Agu said David, a father of three, who hailed from Nasarawa State, had been living in Suleja for years. “I feel very sad over the death of my son. I live in Nassarawa Eggon in Nassarawa State, but he was based in Suleja operating as an Okada rider. He finished school and had nothing to do, so I bought him a motor cycle. He is married with three children. I was in Nassarawa when they called me and told me what happened, and when I came, I discovered he was truly killed by a policeman and his corpse deposited in Suleja General Hospital.” Meanwhile local vigilante, popularly called ‘Yabanga’ in Suleja, has allegedly continued to threaten the residents of the community, asking them to vacate the land. The residents said they now live a life of uncertainty, sending an SOS to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo. According to them, they had lost confidence in the police, as the force had allegedly been bought over by the team of developers who had colluded with the local government officials to short-change them. They held a peaceful protest in Abuja, carrying placards with various inscriptions: ‘Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, come to our rescue, we need justice, the intimidation is too much’ The spokesperson for the community, David Samuel, told Sunday Vanguard that some people, in collaboration with local vigilante, had been threatening their lives, as there was a plan on ground to attack the community at night. His words: “We had integrated until last August when then LGA Chairman, Dikko Kasim, invited us and we were duly informed that Niger State Development Company, NSDC, had paid for the said land where we are occupying, for the sum of N54 million, and we asked him about the way forward because that place has not only become a home to us, that is our village and we have naturalized there? “He asked us to do a residential census on the grounds that if we could contribute money so that he would see how he could settle the NSDC, and we appreciated him. We came back and started doing that but those that are actually against us decided to team up and impeach him from office. “In February this year, we received a call that some people were planning to invade the community to evict us and to demolish our structures. So, we decided to seek for help. The lawyers we consulted, the money they demanded, we didn’t have, and we were not sure we are going to get justice. “They came with bulldozer, police men well armed and private security guards to intimidate the community and they started destroying the structures at the entrance of the community. “That day we visited the National Assembly to air our ordeal and some lawmakers came to the community to see for themselves. They decided not to be partisan as they needed to also hear, as mediators, from the local government. “The conclusion was that the status quo should be maintained while if the local government feels unsatisfied they should take the matter to court. It was after they discovered that they had no merit on the issue that they resorted to violence.” In his remarks, the President, Berekete Family and owner of Human Right Radio, Abuja, Ordinary Ahmed Isah said “Even if government wants to make use of the land on overriding public interest, at least they will treat the residents like human beings, relocate them and provide some structures on ground. “They have lived there for 44 years, they didn’t just walk there, the emir gave their fathers. And every one knows that in Nigeria, in the olden days, if an emir or chief gives you a land, you don’t need any paper apart from the authority that comes from the chief or emir. “They used the money they got from Udoju award in 1975 to give the emir in appreciation of the land and used the balance to erect structures. Some are from Anambra, Enugu, Cross River and Adamawa. It is only history that shows where they came from; the only place they know is that place and that is where they have buried their parents.” The Berekete Family lawyer, Elias Offor, spoke on due process there who wanted to evict the residents should have followed: “If you want to order people out, there is due process, under the compulsory acquisition law that you must follow unlike what we saw in this case. “First, there could be compensation, second they could be resettled and not just resettling them, the place must be very conducive for them to continue their lives. “You cannot just come and start pushing and killing people. This is the 21st century. This is the democratic Nigeria we have been praying for. This is completely unacceptable; so, we are pleading with the appropriate authorities, the international community to come to these residents rescue. It has reached the extent that if they should take up arms now, the police will begin to shoot them again. So,we are pleading, nobody is going to resort to violence, everything will be peaceful until what is to be done is done. “If we evict the victims, they will become IDPs, we cannot allow it. Their rights under the international order are absolutely being trampled upon”. The post They murdered my son for a crime he didn’t commit, bereaved father cries appeared first on Vanguard News. from Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2u50Frj via Naijapounds