Bala Mohammed punished Abuja residents for trespassing but defends open grazing —Falana

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed while serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, demolished people’s houses because they encroached on government land.

Falana, therefore, stated that it was funny that Bala could turn around to say that herdsmen have a right to stray into people’s land and reside in forest reserves without government permission.

The senior advocate said this in a write-up he sent to The PUNCH on Saturday.

He wrote, “Under the Bala Mohammed administration in the FCT, thousands of houses were demolished on the grounds that they were illegally built on landed properties belonging to the Federal Government.

“The ex-minister wanted to demolish the entire Mpape housing over a million people. He had claimed that the owners of the various properties had trespassed on the land belonging to the Federal Government.

“The people whose properties had been marked for demolition briefed our law firm to seek legal redress. On behalf of the community, we approached the FCT High Court for urgent intervention. In an epochal judgment delivered by the Justice Kutigi, the planned demolition was halted.”

The activist argued that while Section 41 of the constitution guarantees freedom of movement, it does not give anyone the freedom to settle anywhere.

He further stated that Section 43 of the constitution provides that every person is entitled to own an immovable property in any state in Nigeria.

Falana said it was curious that the governor who had defended herdsmen carrying AK-47 rifles could go on to demolish a house storing such guns.