Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), former Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has counseled Nyesom Wike, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister to be humane in his approach to the controversial land disputes in Abuja.
Speaking in a chat with TheScrutiny on Tuesday, Sagay said the brash manner the Minister is carrying out demolitions without caring about the well-being of the occupants, especially pregnant women and children may have a negative consequences for the minister and the federal government in the future.
According to Sagay “From what I read, one has to be very careful because of what Rita Lori Ogbebor said. She said her family has had the land from when Abuja was being established. She said her husband was one of the engineers who built Abuja. She also said somewhere along the way, they were allocated the land”.
“I think Wike should be very careful and be sure of what he is doing. If this is just roughly overriding something that has been legitimately acquired, it is going to have a very bad effect not only on Wike but on the government as a whole”.
“That is why Wike has to be very careful about what he is doing. He is doing too much of destructive work. He has been removing people, destroying properties and leaving people in the rain and harsh weather elements without caring about their survival or not. There are women, children and pregnant people who are affected by these issues”.
“All that for me is contrary to the humane, democratic culture under which Nigeria is set up. Even if people are wrongly occupying properties, first you have to give them notice to leave. If they don’t have anywhere to go to, you can build some temporary structures somewhere where they can be sheltered because there are plenty of lands that are still unoccupied in Abuja. You can build something for them to stay until they can organise themselves and leave”.
“All I’m saying is, even when government has rights, it should be humane in exercising those rights. Unless the people are stubborn and they refused to leave after getting several notices to vacate the lands”.
“I think Wike is being too harsh. Yes, you can enforce the law but do it in a humane manner”.
