Abuja demolition: Subscribers task FG on resettlement

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

Subscribers of the Minanuel Estate formally located along Airport Road in Abuja, recently demolished by the Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA), said the federal government should prove its commitment to housing development in the country, by ordering the resettlement of the affected subscribers who invested millions of Naira to acquire the property.

Spokesperson of the Minanuel Estate Subscribers Union, Mr. Festus Adebayo, said at a press conference in Abuja, that the resolve of the FCT administration to pull down more estates in the territory is at variance with the vision of the federal government on housing provision for Nigerians.

He lamented that since the demolition was carried out, the victims have not received any relief from either the FCT administration or the Presidency. “We are worried that the present government cannot attain the promise of giving Nigeria home ownership if Senator Bala Mohammed still remain the minister of FCT.

“We want to say very clearly that our houses were demolished and since then we have been going from one place to the other seeking for justice. Many Nigerians have condemned the action of the FCT minister and we do not have money to take the minister to court. By this we are calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to confirm his commitment to housing development by resettling the subscribers of Minanuel estate,” he said.

Adebayo asserted that the commitment of the Jonathan administration to Public Private Partnership in housing development is questionable if government cannot protect the investment of the developer and the interest of the subscribers.

“All over the world, housing is a tool for economic development and a tool for poverty alleviation, wondering why housing was becoming a tool of depression, oppression and of frustration of people in the country.