Businessman Threatens Legal Action Against Kano Government Over Property Demolition

A businessman in Kano state, Alhaji Ibrahim Mukhtar Mohammed, has threatened to sue the Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KNUPDA, for demolishing his property.

The said property, situated at Alhamsad Tower, Gandu Layout in Kano, was demolished by KNUPDA immediately after completion.

But at a press briefing at the demolished site in Kano on Friday, Mohammed claimed to have followed due process in building the property, with N20 million.

According to him, he obtained approval from KNUPDA to build the property, which was meant to be an eatery, but it was “arbitrarily” demolished without notice.

“What actually happened as i stand before you with a heavy heart, this is once a beautiful place we constructed, but as i look back you can see what happened as a result of the demolition exercise that was carried out by KNUPDA of Kano State. We were not given any notice prior to this demolition.

“We just woke up one morning, that was the Monday morning and found these rubbles,” he lamented.

According to Mohammed, he decided to develop the property to provide job opportunities for young people and provide security at the area known for crime activities.

According to him, he went to KNUPDA to obtain all clearance and approvals, adding that the agency had also sent its representatives to supervise the project to ensure it is carried out based on its laws.

“My driving force for constructing this eatery is just to help our younger ones, our brothers, our children to get something, to get employment. I’m not here to make any money because of this thing.

“As you can see, as I can tell you from the stretch of almost 500 feet, I’m the owner of this property. So if there’s anybody that has a stake, I am the one that has a stake. This place that was constructed, it was once you cannot come after eight o’clock, you cannot pass this place.

“The place has become a dumping ground, people urinate, you need to do all sorts of things here. But by our coming, I said no, it has to be stopped. We applied for construction of temporary, which was on the process.

“But unfortunately, without any notice, we finished this building. The only thing that remains is to put furniture inside and to start business and they come and demolish this. Have you gotten approval for it? The government, unfortunately, this government, for the past six months or seven months, they will collect your money, but they will not give you approval.

“You can go and confirm from the KNUPDA, you see heaps of files. So what we know we did was they sent their representatives. They were even the ones telling us what to do.

“Cut here, demolish here before the final structure. This drawing was produced from the architectural department of KNUPDA. And prior before this demolition, when they told me that they are going to demolish this place, i called the MD and he said, okay, I should meet him on Monday, nine o’clock. Later he said, 11 o’clock. That was even after the demolition.

“That was when I know I’ve just been deceived because nothing has been done. And I went to him and I explained to him, this is the situation. He said I should come on Thursday.

“I went there on Thursday. Yesterday I came back from Abuja. I called him several times, no pick” he said.

The businessman said he had met his lawyers and would advise him on the next line of action.

When contacted for comment, the Managing Director of KNUPDA, ARC Ibrahim Yakubu Adamu claimed that the demolished building was encroached to the main road by about 8 meters.

According to the MD, the agency had never issued approval for Mohammed to erect the building.

He said after studying his files, it shows that though the land was Mohammed’s own, but the building is not on his property and as such it is illegal.

“We served him first and second notice but no response. We have been following his building right from the beginning.

“We have every evidences to demolish his project. At KNUPDA, we never demolish properties without following due process.

“Let me tell you that by January, we are stopping demolishing. We have designated courts to start sending people to jail based on section 16 of the KNUPDA act .

We are treating his case from the development control unit. He applied for approvals and I agree he paid, you can pay for application and the payment doesn’t guarantee you approval.

“So, we have every evidences that his structure was illegal that is why we demolished it,” he said