Following the protest held on Tuesday in Abuja over the demolition of the house which belonged to ex-Tonto Dike’s lover, Joseph Egbri, popularly known as Kpokpogri, another group took up the protest on Wednesday under the aegis of Niger Delta Youths Solidarity Movement.
They held several posters, some of which called on Governor Okowa of Delta State and the Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, “not to keep quiet while their son is being oppressed in Abuja.”
The group protested at the Abuja federal housing authority, calling for compensation to Kpokpogri.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration had said through an aide to the FCT Minister Muhammed Bello that Kpokpogri’s house was built on a major highway, hence the demolition.
The Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection, and Entrustment, Attah Ikharo, noted that the building didn’t get approval from the necessary agencies.
The demolition had since sparked agitations as Kpokpogri had alleged that his house was unlawfully demolished.
The PUNCH reported that a civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, had slammed the FCTA led by the FCT Minister, Bello, over the demolition of the allegedly approved structures.
The group condemned the practice of throwing the poor outside the streets with no option of resettlement or some forms of compensation to help them obtain alternative places of residence.
HURIWA said, “The demolition might not be unconnected to political persecution as alleged by the victim (Kpokpogri). Incidentally, his estranged girlfriend Ms. Dikeh has since taken to social media to mock her ex-lover over his loss for what she considers to be karma at work.
“It is also on record that Dikeh, in October 2021, allegedly used her connection to the late Deputy Inspector General of Police, Joseph Egbunike, to settle scores with Kpokpogri at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. The then DIG and Tonto herself denied these allegations as unsubstantiated but Kpokpogri said a government official had begged him to sell the house but he refused. This needs to be investigated.
“Aside from the demolition of Kpokpogri’s house, the FCTA also recently demolished over 300 structures in a densely populated Bassa-Jiwa village, near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“Most of the affected structures were residential buildings, shanties, and kiosks. This particular exercise lawful as it is could have been carried with a little human feelings such as providing alternatives to these unfortunate and less privileged Nigerians.
“The consequences on human habitation in Abuja and of course the possibility that it will shoot up the cost of living in the FCT is so appalling.”
THE PUNCH
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