El-Rufai demolishes Kaduna community 72-hours to end of tenure
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has given residents of Gbagyi Villa a parting gift by demolishing their houses, barely 72-hours to the end of his tenure.
Recall that El-Rufai had attempted to demolish the community in 2016 but was stopped by a High Court in the state presided by Justice Hannatu A.L. Balogun.
The judge had granted residents of Gbagyi Villa an order of injunction, restraining El-Rufai and four others from interfering with the possession, use and occupation of the properties in issue, and from carrying out any demolition of the properties of the community pending determination of notice.
But 72-hours to the end of his tenure, the Governor mobilized bulldozers to the community yesterday and pulled down several buildings despite the case being in court.
According to eyewitnesses, some members of the community who attempted to prevent the demolition were shot at by security operatives, with some reportedly killed.
As his days in office comes to an end, El-rufai appears to be settling scores with perceived enemies by either sacking or demolishing their abodes
This week, he sacked the Clerk of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Bello Zubairu Idris.
A permanent secretary, Yau Yunusa Tanko, and secretary of the Kaduna Enterprise Development Agency (KADEDA), Francis Kozah, were booted out of office also this week.
Traditional rulers were not spared in the last minute purge by El-Rufai as he deposed Jonathan Zamuna and Aliyu Yammah, the traditional rulers of Piriga and Arak chiefdoms respectively.