As the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, increased their compensation package from N655 million to N1.3 billion for the community’s demolition of over 200 homes, success seems to be on the horizon for Gishiri residents.
On Monday in Abuja, Wike made the enthralling news public.
Persecondnews reports that the residents of the communities whose houses were destroyed on March 11 for construction along a designated road corridor, rejected the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority’s (FCDA)’s (FCDA) earlier compensation for being subpar and paltry.
We are asking for assistance because we are going through a lot, according to one of their advocates, Mr. John Madalla Maikasuwa. When they visited in 2024 for house numbering and capturing, and when they returned for evaluation, we cooperated with them.
After the evaluation, they estimated one-bedroom apartments to cost between N100 000 and N300 000, while some structures were estimated to cost N50 000.
“They told us that they were using the 2013 compensation plan.” How can a compensation plan from 12 years ago be used in 2025? Are building materials’ prices still the same as they were then? Is cement the same price as it is in 2025 in 2013?
“Considering the compensation plan: If you purchased a bag of cement in Gishiri for N3000 in 2013, do you think you could even fund a foundation with the merger compensation that has been provided?
Due to the community’s ongoing demolition, some of our parents are in the hospital. We are crying out to the entire world to come to our rescue because everything we have worked so hard for has vanished.
We are shocked to see the Minister and his team being demolished while the court is in court and the court has already decided that until the issues are resolved, “we are shocked.” We anticipate that Mike will uphold court injunctions because he is a lawyer.
According to Wike, compensation funds had been allocated and a relocation site had been set up for those affected shortly after overseeing the demolition.
However, the minister claimed that the residents who were impacted had declined to receive compensation for their relocation.
He continued, “This means the job won’t continue.” That is not what we will permit. More than four times have I been.
We met with the community leaders and discussed how important it is to work with the government to allow the contractor to finish the project by May.
“We pleaded with the traditional leaders to give them a week,” they said. We have set up a location where they can relocate to in order to receive the compensation.
“Despite all these assurances, it seems that work is not going on, and I informed the traditional rulers that it must continue.”
It is their business if they don’t want it, they say.
No government would sit idly by and permit people to sabotage a project designed for the public good, according to the minister, who unambiguously declared “enough is enough.”
However, on Monday, March 17, the minister increased the compensation from N655 million to N1.3 billion during a meeting with community members at his official Abuja residence.
He made this choice after considering the situation’s current economic conditions.
The Community members claimed at the meeting that the Department of Resettlement and Compensation at the FCDA only provided compensation for N72, 000, which is significantly below the minister’s approval.
Additionally, they asserted that the department denied non-indigenes compensation whose homes were also destroyed.
The Minister ordered Mr. Richard Dauda, the executive secretary of the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA), to make sure that Gishiri Community residents receive prompt and full compensation payments after the discrepancies in compensation payments were clearly escalating by the Minister.
He warned him that if he failed to follow the instructions, his appointment would be terminated.
The minister also urged the Secretary to make sure non-indigenes received compensation, pointing out that the government’s compensation policy applies to all citizens, regardless of their ethnic background, regardless of their ethnicity.
He advised “go and give people their money, and the precise sum.” You will regret what you are doing if I discover it. Give people their regular checks.
And I’ve also heard that you should not do that, and that you should not disclose to anyone in this world that they are not indigenous.
I’ve been warned. Why wouldn’t you give me my money if I own a property there and a road is passing through it? Why would you assert that I am not an indigenous person? Its location is.
“A road is passing there after I built a house, or I built a store, for example.” You’re telling me that because I’m not an indigenous person, you’ll nkf make a profit. That’s what kind of mentality?
“You people should stop this,” he said. That is not what I will do. Compensation is not provided by the government depending on where you are from. Who has a property there determines the amount of compensation.
As the bulldozers were mobilized to the community, residents reportedly wailed uncontrollably as they watched the demolition before being chased away by security operatives.
Disturbed traders sat agape and sobbed over the destruction of their goods and life’s savings as the shops, which included those selling building materials, phones, phone accessories, and flour, were reduced to rubble.
The minister was accompanied by security personnel from the Police, Military, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), who reportedly shot tear gas canisters at the crowd, threatening to start fire, further escalating the conflict.
Many residents returned home in a rush to retrieve what was left over from their personal belongings after leaving for work.
Scavengers, known locally as “babanbola,” were seen removing salvaged materials, including roofing sheets and metals, as the residents battled the destruction of their homes and livelihoods.
