In a recent development, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil rights advocacy group, expressed concern over the series of demolitions carried out by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in FESTAC Town, Lagos.
HURIWA denounced these actions as dehumanizing, degrading, and lacking sensitivity. The group went further to state that the demolition contradicts the government’s widely-publicized housing agenda under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.
According to HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, although there are discordant tones on the validity of the rights of occupancy of those houses demolished, it is unimaginable that an administration with a lot of emphasis on mass housing will at the same time be seen implementing extensive demolition of houses even without permitting the residents to retrieve all their property on the day of the commencement of the demolition.
HURIWA, which argued that the action of the Federal Government towards the citizens must of legal necessity, be humane, and should wear a human face, stated that the failure of the government to allow sufficient time for house owners to retrieve their property before demolition, amounted to cruel and dehumanising treatment.
The rights advocacy group stated that from the groundswell of emotions that poured out during the demolition by the victims, what has emerged is that the Federal Government, through the Federal Housing Authority, crudely treated citizens with no compassion.
Source: The Guardian
