Thousands of homeless Waterfront dwellers drag Governor Wike’s to Court

Daniel Efe/ Port Harcourt

Thousands of Internally Displaced People,IDPs affected by the demolition of Waterfront Communities in Diobu, Port Harcourt have drag Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration illegal demolition.

They are seeking an order to stop the State Government from continuing the demolition exercise.

.When the matter came up at a State High court in Port Harcourt, Friday, the victims’ lawyer, Gift Atido asked to be allowed to amend the court papers to reflect current realities, Justice S. H. Aprioku granted the request and adjourned the case to February 28.

 The demolitions of various Waterfronts in Diobu Port Harcourt and other areas of Port Harcourt have been eliciting condemnations by concerned members of the public, human rights lawyers and opposition politicians.
Among them is the former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside who accused the Wike’s administration of forcefully ejecting over 100,000 poor and vulnerable Rivers residents from their waterfront homes as “wicked, evil and inhuman,”.

“This commando-style of doing things always adopted by Wike has become the hallmark of his administration and its legacy,” he stressed. 

Peterside noted that Governor Wike’s action against the waterfront residents is against all Universal Laws and Conventions on Human Rights and Habitation, including the United Nations Human Settlement Programme, UN-Habitat, United Nations Housing Rights Programme, UNHRP, the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Nigeria’s Policy on Housing, Peterside stressed that shelter was a right and fundamental to the welfare, survival and health of man.

“For Wike, who, in the over six years of his regime, was unable to provide any sort of housing programme for Rivers residents, to sack them from the little they had, shows how he holds Rivers’ poor population in disdain. Some of the residents of those demolished areas, most of whom are Rivers people, had lived there for over forty years. His actions have dislocated many families and ruined their economic survival, throwing them into the worst form of poverty. Gov. Wike’s action has created more nuisance than sanity or security,” he stated.

Dr Peterside said in as much as he stood with and would support any urban renewal programme, such should follow due process and have human face.  

Internally Displaced Persons whose houses in Diobu Waterfronts, Port Harcourt were demolished by Governor Wike’s bulldozers.

Thousands of the displaced Waterfront dwellers by Governor Nyesom Wike’s bulldozers lament untold hardships, lack of protection and throw into the open hazards.

“I totally support urban renewal but it should follow due process that will respect human dignity and inflict minimal pains on the people.

 A responsible government would plan with inputs from all critical stakeholders, reach an understanding with residents of the affected areas on a workable timeline, and pay necessary financial compensation to cushion the effects of consequential migration. 

“Rivers people do not know the vision and development goals of the Wike administration for waterfront development other than primitive acquisition of land for the governor and his cronies” said Dakuku. 

He challenged Wike to make public his development plans for those sacked waterfront settlements if he had any.

Peterside said knowing “Wike too well, he has no development plans for them. If he didn’t have any development plan for Rivers State since 2015, is it now that he is engulfed in the politics of his 2023 ambition that he would have development plan? The use of the left hand is not learnt in old age. By May this year, Wike would have spent 7 years in office but with absolutely nothing to show of how he has helped lift Rivers people out of poverty, or how he has helped Rivers youth develop themselves.

“All he is interested in is transactions that will give him monetary benefits. Those sacked waterfront residents should not forget Wike’s wickedness against them and repay him and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, come 2023,” he summed up.

Residents of demolished Illuoabuchi Waterfronts in Diobu Area of the Port Harcourt City local government area of Rivers State on their part have been crying out over inhuman treatment by the Wike’s administration.

Henry Ekine, a human rights crusader and national legal adviser to Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, has decried demolition and displacement of poor citizens, including women, children, disadvantaged persons, the aged, persons with challenging health conditions from their settlements in some parts of Port Harcourt as illegal and inhuman treatment against the hapless poor.
Ekine enumerated areas that about six years of Wike’s administration has demolished “Slaughter, Nkpogu, trailer park at Eleme and most recently at Iluoabuchi and neighbouring settlements, without sufficient notice by Rivers State Government causing avoidable homelessness of hundreds of households and caused thousands of Internally Displaced Persons without alternative accommodation or IDP camps, no relief and no compensation.

“This despotic, unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional act of the Government of Rivers State, in a supposed civil democratic society, is a gross violation of the rights of citizens to adequate housing, right to education, right to privacy, right to life, etc”

Also in a press statement by Gift Otonnah, Chairman ,Chiefs and Elders Forum condemn the ongoing demolition of buildings at the Illuoabuchi waterfront by the agents of the PDP led Rivers state government.
The Forum had described the demolition and displacement of the people living there as Wicked and direct attack on the non-indigenes in Diobu speaks volume of the insensitivity of the perpetrators on the poor mass.

The Diobu chiefs & Elder want on to state that Iloubuchi waterfront, like Ikokwu spare parts area is currently under demolition for allegedly being the voters base of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Port Harcourt (phalga)3, and not as claimed to be that shanty area.
He further stated they have to alert Rivers people of a dangerous trend whereby the government in the state can wakeup anytime and forcefully eject people from area perceived to be opposition stronghold, like Ikokwu and Illoubuchi area of Diobu.
We call on those affected by this wickedness in governance, including other residents and voters in Diobu area of Port Harcourt to come out and condemn this act with their PVC come 2023 elections.

The people of Diobu must not allow these type of leaders again, to avoid being pushed out to the street.