On January 29, 2022 bulldozers, guarded by heavily armed security personnel and escorted by officials of the Rivers State government, moved into Iloabuchi waterfront in the Diobu area of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital to commence the demolition of what the State Governor, Nyesom Wike had earlier described as shanties and which he had informed publicly declared that he will totally demolish across the state.
For the over 40,000 dwellers, who are predominantly poor citizens and barely managing to eke out a living, the demolition exercise was like a death sentence to their hope as they wallowed in tears and agony.
The areas already demolished in an exercise which was swiftly carried out includes Elechi I, Elechi II, Nanka, Abba, Urualla, Egede and Soku, all located off Iloabuchi Street in Diobu area of the state capital.
Governor Wike had, in his 2022 New Year message, said the state government would from the second week of January embark on demolition of all shanties and makeshift structures in identified criminal hotspots in Port Harcourt, as part of efforts to keep the state peaceful, safe and secure for all.
“And to make the state safer, government will from the second week of January 2022 commence demolition of all shanties and makeshift structures in identified crime hotspots in Port Harcourt, particularly the Iloabuchi areas of Diobu,” he had declared.
And in line with his vow, while residents were still thinking he will have a change of heart, on January 19, 2022, a team comprising security operatives and civilians began marking buildings in the waterfront for demolition, advising the residents to vacate within seven days.
Since the demolition however, no government official or agency has claimed responsibility for the quit notice, as no officials of the Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Planning agreed to speak on the issue.
The demolition of the Iloabuchi waterfront is the latest in the series of such demolition exercise by Governor Wike in his sustained war against perceived illegal structures across Rivers State and many of such housing structures which house the poor population have come under the crushing powers of the government’s bulldozers.
Some of the areas affected include Mkpogu, Oginigba slaughter area, several sections along the East West Road like Elelenwo, Akpajo, Eleme and Trailer Park area of Onne, as well as Ahaoda axis of the East West road.
These demolitions at every turn leaves a trail of tears and agony as several thousands of persons are usually affected; they become homeless with nowhere to go, they lose sources of livelihood, business and above all, they lose hope and family as most of them send their children to different locations for safety.
This is the situation at present in the recently demolished community; over one week after the demolition of the Iloabuchi waterfront, some of the victims who do not have immediate alternatives were still seen milling around the place and trying to pick the pieces of their lives even without roofs over their heads while exposed to the elements.
A visit by Nigerian Tribune to the Egede street section of the Iloabuchi waterfront revealed that many residents have nowhere to go and now live on the rubbles of what used to be their homes. A group of women and children are among the families still living on the rubbles of what was their home before demolition. These women survive on roasting and selling fish and they are still trying to do this on the rubbles that their homes have become.
They told Nigerian Tribune that they had no place to go or money to rent a house adding that landlords around the demolished areas had jacked up their rent to N7,000 from N5,000 per month for a room before the demolition took place.
Gift Barisuwa, a 27 year old undergraduate of the Rivers State Polytechnic who spoke on behalf of the women said “Where do they want me to go with five children? They gave only seven days notice and that was shortly after we returned from the Christmas and New Year holidays, having spent all we had then. They came on a Wednesday and exactly Wednesday the following week they had returned with bulldozers to commence demolition.
“I am 27 years and I was born here, that’s my elder sister over there, she is 40 and she also was born her. See that church up there (Church of God Mission) when we finish here, at night we go to sleep inside the church on any available space, some of us have been sleeping in the open since after the demolition.
“The little we saved, we spent it during Christmas. I hadn’t travelled for the last three years so I got to prepare myself before going. See me now, how do I get out of this terrible situation? If we were given notice before that time maybe I would have just remained in the village without coming back to face this humiliation and sudden descent into hopelessness. See me, who will be in this position and be happy?
“I can no longer go to school because the demolition has destroyed our business, (roasting and selling fish). Now we are just managing because of the sun. Before now we had where we stayed to dry it but everything has been destroyed by the government. Now the government has stopped me half way. We are not happy, they call this place dirty place but it was our own GRA, we were okay, even if the environment was dirty, we were still living healthy. We love our dirty environment. The day they came here one of them observed that the place was smelly but we were living well. The governor is from Diobu, but see how he is treating us,” she said.
Lucky Friday, another young female victim who claimed her father had a five-room building in the community lamented that her children are now subjected to health risks, adding that “I and three children are stranded; I couldn’t pick a pin out of my house. If they had warned us during the Christmas period, some of us would have relocated to the village quietly with the little property we had. But now everything has been reduced to rubbles.
“Last Thursday when it rained, I and my children were at the mercy of the downpour in the open here. My second to the last daughter was down with cold as a result and her father had to rush her to the hospital for treatment. I have suddenly started experiencing pain in my chest for the first time. The only thing close to shelter we have over us now is the church where we go to sleep. We don’t have anywhere to go because we don’t have any money on us, if we had money, it would have been a different ball game. We just came back from Christmas,” she lamented.
Another victim, one of ladies known as the Barisuwo sisters, bemoaned the fact that the demolition had turned her family from landlords to complete destitute with nowhere to go. She explained that her late father had 28 rooms at the Egede waterfront which were all demolished.
“They are talking about shanties, but if you can see, (pointing at an area of the rubbles) this is my yard and if you can look very well, you can see that all the houses here are blocks. So you can imagine for a man to suffer years back to build 28 rooms, some of these blocks you see here, if you go to the market you cannot get blocks as strong as they were to just come and pull down everything.
“If not that God is so kind and this is dry season, tell me how we could cope with the rains and associated cold weather. It is the church that has been accommodating us for now with our children and what is left of our property after the demolition exercise. Imagine sleeping in the open with this precious child God gave to me after 11 years of waiting,” she said.
The fate of the Barisuwo at Egede Street is similar to that of many other victims who had earlier on Friday July 2, 2021 also lost their homes and business premises to the demolition of shanties along the Eleme Junction-Trailer Park axis of the East-West road leading to the Onne sea ports.
That demolition was carried out by officials of the Rivers State Task Force on street trading and illegal motor parks on the instruction of Governor Wike who had said then that the shanties were ready hideouts for criminal elements terrorising the state.
That exercise also then left behind ruins as thousands of make shift buildings housing thousands of micro, small and medium scale businesses were reduced to rubbles. Tears and sorrow were all over the environment with many crying over their losses and the uncertain future that awaits them following the loss of their investments and homes.
Same for Oginigba Slaughter market, Mkpogu settlement and many other such urban slums that have fallen victims to demolition exercise in the past six years of his administration.
Ismaila Musa, one of the victims at the Trailer Park Onne, told Nigerian Tribune that he was in pains considering his losses to the demolition.
According to him, he did not only lose his provision store, which has been growing stronger but the also a two- room and parlour apartment where he resides with his young family of five, adding that, “As we speak, my family, our little belongings which we could salvage are still lying outside and I don’t have a clue of where to relocate to.”
He said that the initial understanding they had was that it was only the buildings close to the road that would be demolished only for them to knock down the entire place.
“Now look at how they have destroyed all these shops and houses of numerous people here. Do you know the number of persons who feed and take care of their families here? Now tell me, where will they go and how are they going to fend for themselves and families?” he asked.
Musa’s question resonates across all the other sections of the roads where the exercise was also carried out like Ahoad axis of the East-West road and they are not just a few. But for the Eleme-Onne victims, the demolition was to sack criminals who allegedly hide under such places to carry out their nefarious activities.
The sin of the shanty dwellers at Mkpogu was using the cover of the place to produce counterfeit bottled water, carbonated soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. The governor ordered the demolition of the place and in few weeks, the area was sacked.
The Governor then said that the state government would acquire the land as the shanties were also known to be used by criminals for other nefarious activities, adding that he had received credible intelligence report that some criminal network involved in counterfeiting of bottled water, carbonated soft drinks and alcoholic beverages were operating in the area.
He asserted that no government that is responsible and responsive would allow illicit production of counterfeit bottled water and drinks to take place within its jurisdiction. The governor also noted that several unsuspecting persons had been afflicted with deadly diseases after innocently purchasing fake products produced by the miscreants operating from the Nkpogu shanties.
“If you look at the area where we are, it is a criminal hideout and I will not waste time immediately to demolish the area. In fact, this will take place in the next two days.
The governor, who bemoaned the unhygienic environment littered with refuse and bagged water sachets and carbonated drink bottles, said his administration would not relent in to ridding Port Harcourt and its environs of shanties.
“I cannot believe that people can turn the whole Port Harcourt to a cabbage city instead of a Garden City. It is unacceptable to me. Like I have always said, no decision you take will be favourable to everybody. But as far as we are concerned, one will take the right decision and the right thing must be done. We are going to clear all these shanties,” he said.
