Group takes Ngenevu and Ugwuomu residents’ case to Human Rights Commission

Emeka Ibemere

In their last minute effort to save the residents of Ngenevu and Ugwuomu whose properties were demolished by the Enugu State Capital Development Authority, ESCDA, on the orders of one Eric Chime, Socioeconomic Rights Initiative (SERI) has taken the case to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for adjudication.

The residents of the estate, at Ugwuomu and Ngenevu Zone in Ogbete and Coal Camp Areas of Enugu North LGA of Enugu State were forcefully evicted and their properties illegally demolished.

The victims points fingers to one Eric Chime and Enugu State Capital Development Authority to be behind their ordeals.

 The residents in a petition dated July 14, 2015 addressed to the Executive Secretary of the NHRC and signed by their Counsel C. A. Umeh of SERI, is seeking among other reliefs an order restoring them to their homes from which they were evicted by the respondents and one N1billion as special and general damages.

They also want an order for release of those of them who are still being detained for asking for the reasons for the demolition of their hard earned properties.

“Elizabeth Eke and 19 others are the complainants in the petition while Eric Chime, Enugu State Capital Development Authority, Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Enugu State and the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State are the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.”

According to the petitioners, on 16th and 21st of January 2015, the 2nd respondent backed by over 50 men and officers of the Enugu State Anti-Robbery Squad, the agents of the 4th respondent, without any prior notice or an order of court, mobilized several bulldozers and earth moving machines into the settlements occupied by the petitioners and demolished houses belonging to the petitioners.

It was gathered that in the process, the agents destroyed property belonging to the petitioners, their families, tenants and other residents, on the ground that the demolished houses were built on a 55.99 hectares of land belonging to Enugu Coal Corporation, which the 1^st Respondent bought from the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), in pursuant to the privatization policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The petitioners further alleged that during the demolition exercises, amidst wailings and cries of the distress residents, they were flogged, beaten, maimed, injured and arrested and were not even allowed to rescue their academic certificates, title documents and other valuable personal effects. Newswatch Times gathered that even the reports they made to the police were ignored by the police authority.

“The argument of the Respondents is that the action of the Respondents amounts to forced eviction which violates several sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; several articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights to which Nigeria is a state party.” Raymond Onyegu,

Attorney and President of the group stated.

“In pursuit of their right, the petitioners had on July 3, 2015 staged a peaceful protest to the Zonal Office of the NHRC in Enugu. They followed this up with another peaceful protest on Monday July 27, 2015 at the premises of the Federal High Court, Enugu, venue of the Public Inquiry into Cases of Demolitions and Evictions in Nigeria, South-South and South- East zones organized by the National Human Rights Commission where their petition was among those listed for hearing.”

Meanwhile, after confirming that all parties to the petition had been put on notice, the Commission adjourned the matter for hearing at the next sitting which comes up in September.

It would be recalled that the National Human Rights Commission, had earlier ordered the release of six persons from prison custody in Enugu State pending further hearing of their case on August 26.

The commission, holding its pre-sitting on public enquiry into cases of demolitions and forceful evictions in the South East and South-South zones, made the order following a protest by some 20 owners of properties in Ngenevu and Bunker in Enugu North Local Government Area of the state.

The placard-carrying protesters claimed that their buildings were demolished without notice by one Eric Chime, popularly known as “Rico Container”, who claimed to have acquired the land from the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

The protesters, mainly retirees, widows, orphans and low-income earners, told the commission that they had been living in squalor since January when their buildings were demolished.

The spokesperson of the group, Mrs Elizabeth Eke, said that their houses were demolished on January 16 and January 22 allegedly on the orders of Chime. Eke said that Chime employed the services of a bulldozer to demolish their houses without notice, adding that some people did not bring out a pin from their houses as they were not around when the demolition took place.

According to her, Chime had allegedly been terrorizing the people living in an uncompleted building because he claimed to have bought the land from the Federal Government through the bureau as the land originally belonged to the Nigerian Coal Corporation.

She alleged that Chime caused the arrest of six of them and took them to the police headquarters from where they were sent to the prison.

Counsel to Chime told the commission that he had not been duly served and urged the panel to give him 30 days to enable him to get prepared for the case. Mr Tony Ojikwe, who presided over the matter, ordered the immediate release of those in prison custody.