Groups Condemn Rivers Govt Over Plans to Demolish 17 Communities

Some communities and civil society organisations have condemned plans by the Rivers State government to evict 17 more communities, saying that at least 60,000 persons would be rendered homeless and driven into poverty if the plan is carried out.

They said this at a joint press conference in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Tuesday.

The state government had recently announced plans to demolish 17 communities in Port Harcourt within seven days.

The communities include Awgu Waterfront, Elechi Phase 1 Waterfront, Elechi Phase 11 Waterfront, Urualla Waterfront, Ojike Waterfront, Afikpo/Awkuzu Waterfront, Abba Waterfront, Nanka Waterfront, Akokwa Waterfront and Egede Waterfront.

Others are Soku Waterfront, Timber Waterfront, Echue Waterfront, Obiodansor Waterfront and Anozie Waterfront.

The plans to demolish the communities came less than two weeks after thousands of persons at Andoni Village and Redeemed Village, Eagle Island were displaced.

The groups – Justice & Empowerment Initiatives, Social Action, Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation, Stakeholders Democracy Network and Collaborative Media Advocacy Platform – decried the threat to demolish the communities and asked the government to seriously reconsider its plans because it would violate the fundamental human rights of the residents.

“Any person that has witnessed the horrors of forced eviction, where persons are thrown out of their homes and have their livelihoods and communities destroyed overnight, cannot believe this is the path to security and development of our society,” they said.

“Studies have shown the terrible long-term impacts of forced evictions on the incomes, health, and education of evictees.”

The groups said though Governor Nyesom Wike had cited the 2015 amendments to the Rivers State Anti-Kidnapping Law to justify the recent spate of demolitions and threatened evictions, the reality was that the demolitions being carried out were not targeted at actual kidnappers.

They said instead “they are a pretext for evicting thousands of innocent children, women, men, and elderly persons who are employed in legitimate businesses through which they eke out their modest livings, and from which they pay their children’s school fees and Government taxes and fees.”

The group stated that “Such persons live in Port Harcourt’s informal settlements because of the lack of affordable housing in the formal sector and make positive contributions every day to the city’s economy.”

Stating that the false impression given to the public must be corrected, the groups said the Anti-Kidnapping Law does not authorize mass evictions nor does it allow the demolition of properties before the persons accused of kidnapping offenses under the law are arrested, prosecuted, and found guilty in line with the right to fair hearing protected by Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.

They argued that if the government was allowed to so flagrantly evade the rule of law and take the law into its own hands to trample on the rights of thousands of innocent citizens, then all of society would suffer.

They noted that Injustice would not stop with the poor and those living in informal settlements and that the greed for land would render no one safe from eviction and seizure of all that he or she had worked for in his life.

The groups said, “We are members of the affected communities. We are members of other communities in Port Harcourt who fear that we will be next should our brothers and sisters fall to the present threat.

“We are members of communities from as far away as Lagos who stand in solidarity with those who are under threat today. We are members of civil society who work with the affected communities, visit them on a regular basis, and know their realities.

“We know the communities under threat are ready to work with government in any legitimate law enforcement approach to resolving security concerns and rooting out criminals who may be hiding in different corners of the city.

“We know the communities under threat are ready to partner with government to improve their infrastructure and quality of life through in situ upgrading.

“We also know that no good can come of the present threat of eviction, just as no good has come from the long list of prior forced evictions in Port Harcourt. Is our society safer today? Is poverty lessened? Have we gotten rid of informal settlements or simply pushed them from one place to another? We must all ask ourselves these questions rather than blindly following our fears.”

The groups said already, thousands were homeless and destitute from the evictions in Eagle Island two weeks ago and that if 60, 0000 more innocent Nigerians were forced out of their homes and communities, it would amount to “a gross violation of these citizens’ right to fair hearing, right to property, right to adequate shelter, and will equally undermine their right to health and right to education of their children.”

The groups stated further, “We are deeply concerned that the government would run roughshod over all these rights in the present-day democratic dispensation; we call for a break from the past of such abuses and for Government to partner with us – communities and civil society – to find a better way forward.”

–PremiumTimes