JUST IN: The Nigeria Navy Vs Iddo Sariki Court case that was scheduled to hold on 26th June,has been withdrawn, to be settled out of the court.
Sinach
Published Date:
Jun 28, 2024
Last Updated:
The Nigeria Navy Vs Iddo Sariki Court case that was scheduled to hold on 26th June,has been withdrawn, to be settled out of the court.
After the disturbing news from Iddo Sarkin community, in Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,where 73% of her occupants are students of the prestigious UofA who face the attempt by the Nigerian Navy to forcefully dislodge and eject the inhabitants of their home and comforts. The Navy mounted bill boards on February 12, 2023 at strategic locations of the community mandating everyone who have lived there to “Pack and Leave”, without due process, as stipulated by the laws of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
A case which the UofA students voice correspondents and the Public complaints commission of Nigeria condemned in its entirety as it was an obvious abuse of human rights by a federal government institution,
• For contextual precedence; the original inhabitants of Abuja have lived in the area centuries before Nigeria adopted the geographic space as its Federal Capital Territory, giving the students and their guardians the locus standi to rent an apartment there. This fact is backed up by international documents such as article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in article 11.1 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which protects students and citizens against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one’s home.
Moreover, the 1999 Nigerian constitution as amended in section 44: (1) states that “No moveable property or any interest in an immovable property shall be taken possession of compulsorily and no right over or interest in any such property shall be acquired compulsorily in any part of Nigeria except in the manner and for the purposes prescribed by a law that, among other things –
(a) requires the prompt payment of compensation therefore and
(b) gives to any person claiming such compensation a right of access for the determination of his interest in the property and the amount of compensation to a court of law or tribunal or body having jurisdiction in that part of Nigeria.
Part V of the Land Use Act of 1978 speaks clearly on the matter of revocation of rights of occupancy and compensation,rightly stating that this right is clearly vested on the Governor of a State and in the case of the FCT; on the FCT Minister who has the delegated powers of the President to administer the territory.
So, the sheer display of authority over the armless students and the neglect of their constitutional provisions is a clear illegality which shouldn’t be heard or found and/or traced to any law enforcement institution of Government, and this was why the rumoured court case instituted was scrabbed out on the 26th of June, 2024 as the both parties proceeds to the national assembly green Chambers on the 10th of July, 2024 for the reps. plenary.
So we urge all the necessary authorities, The president and the minister of the FCT, the House of Assembly principal officers and members, to remember that the welfare of the 33.3% of the students of UofA community are at stake and the students must be protected against any form of victimization, intimidation.
The students should not be cowered to live in perpetual fear every day, confused of what is to come.
After the disturbing news from Iddo Sarkin community, in Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,where 73% of her occupants are students of the prestigious UofA who face the attempt by the Nigerian Navy to forcefully dislodge and eject the inhabitants of their home and comforts. The Navy mounted bill boards on February 12, 2023 at strategic locations of the community mandating everyone who have lived there to “Pack and Leave”, without due process, as stipulated by the laws of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
A case which the UofA students voice correspondents and the Public complaints commission of Nigeria condemned in its entirety as it was an obvious abuse of human rights by a federal government institution,
• For contextual precedence; the original inhabitants of Abuja have lived in the area centuries before Nigeria adopted the geographic space as its Federal Capital Territory, giving the students and their guardians the locus standi to rent an apartment there. This fact is backed up by international documents such as article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in article 11.1 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which protects students and citizens against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one’s home.
Moreover, the 1999 Nigerian constitution as amended in section 44: (1) states that “No moveable property or any interest in an immovable property shall be taken possession of compulsorily and no right over or interest in any such property shall be acquired compulsorily in any part of Nigeria except in the manner and for the purposes prescribed by a law that, among other things –
(a) requires the prompt payment of compensation therefore and
(b) gives to any person claiming such compensation a right of access for the determination of his interest in the property and the amount of compensation to a court of law or tribunal or body having jurisdiction in that part of Nigeria.
Part V of the Land Use Act of 1978 speaks clearly on the matter of revocation of rights of occupancy and compensation,rightly stating that this right is clearly vested on the Governor of a State and in the case of the FCT; on the FCT Minister who has the delegated powers of the President to administer the territory.
So, the sheer display of authority over the armless students and the neglect of their constitutional provisions is a clear illegality which shouldn’t be heard or found and/or traced to any law enforcement institution of Government, and this was why the rumoured court case instituted was scrabbed out on the 26th of June, 2024 as the both parties proceeds to the national assembly green Chambers on the 10th of July, 2024 for the reps. plenary.
So we urge all the necessary authorities, The president and the minister of the FCT, the House of Assembly principal officers and members, to remember that the welfare of the 33.3% of the students of UofA community are at stake and the students must be protected against any form of victimization, intimidation.
The students should not be cowered to live in perpetual fear every day, confused of what is to come.
Viva Vitória
Hon. Ifesinachi Donald U.
About the Author
Sinach
A les Avocat, living with the It Begins With Me Mantra and determined to dot all i's and cross all t's for a better Nigeria.
