Demolition: Court gives Kano govt one week to pay N30bn compensation

A Federal High Court has ordered the Kano government to pay the sum of N30 billion within one week in a lawsuit brought by the Incorporated Trustees of Masallacin Eid Shop Owners and Traders against the government.

Recall that the court had in September ordered the Kano State government to pay the Incorporated Trustees of Masallacin Eid Shop Owners compensation for the unlawful demolition of their properties.

the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, on assumption of office in late May, ordered the demolition of shops, malls and a hotel, insisting they violated the state’s masterplan.

Some of the properties demolished are three-storey buildings with ninety shops on a race course at the Nasarawa GRA, Daula Hotel, reconstructed by the administration of Abdullahi Ganduje under a private-public partnership arrangement.

The Kano government also demolished another structure at Hajj Camp, sold to private individuals by the immediate past administration of the state and shops erected in parts of the Kofar Mata and Eid prayer ground.

However, the presiding judge, Justice Samuel Amobeda, had conditionally ruled that the sum of N30 billion be deposited in the Court’s Bank Account within seven days while awaiting the outcome of the appeal process.

Meanwhile, Marwan Ahmed, the Commissioner for Works in Kano State, faces potential consequences for continuing to tamper with the properties against the court’s judgment.

The notice also warned of potential contempt and imprisonment if the order Is not followed.