The district head of Garki, Stephen S. Yakubu, Wednesday said demolition of Gishiri community road corridor in the Katampe district of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is unfortunate, regrettable, heart-breaking and condemnable because of the way and manner it happened.
In a statement made available to Blueprint in Abuja Wednesday, over the development in Gishiri, TPL Yakubu said the demolition is particularly condemnable because the affected houses belong to natives, who have lived there even before the creation of the FCT and have no other place they can call their home, except the community in question.
However, he defended the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, over allegations of arbitrary demolitions, saying the minister acted in the best interest of the community.
While denying allegations by community members of the Sapeyi palace being compromised, the traditional ruler suggested for FCT stakeholders to organise a town hall meeting in order to address the reoccurring issues of resettlement and to find a lasting solution to all issues raised by members of the community.
He said: “Gishiri Community Road Corridor demolition, for a fact, is quite unfortunate, regrettable, heart-breaking and condemnable because of the way and manner it all happened. It is condemnable because these are the homes, not just houses of the natives, who have lived pre the creation of FCT, who know no other place as their home, except the community in question.
“Ordinarily, the demolition would have been the last stage of the process after relocating to their new site. While on the other hand, we as a people (natives) need to know by discernment at some point that when a project is embarked upon that has direct bearing and benefit to all, such needs to be celebrated and supported as much as possible.”