Court gives Kano govt one-week to provide N30 billion in compensation for demolition

By Hannah Nathan, Warri

The Kano government was ordered by a Federal High Court to pay N30 billion to the Incorporated Trustees of Masallacin Eid Shop Owners and Traders within a week of the complaint being filed against the government.

It was gathered that the Kano State government was compelled by the court in September to compensate the Incorporated Trustees of Masallacin Eid Shop Owners for the illegal demolition of their properties.

Abba Yusuf said the governor of Kano State, ordered the demolition of stores, malls, and a hotel after taking office in late May, claiming the buildings violated the state’s master plan.

Among the assets razed were three-story buildings with ninety stores situated on a racing course at the Nasarawa GRA, Daula Hotel. These buildings were later rebuilt under a private-public partnership arrangement by Abdullahi Ganduje’s administration.

The Kano government also razed a different building at Hajj Camp that had been sold to private citizens by the state’s most recent administration, as well as stores that had been built in sections of the Kofar Mata and Eid prayer grounds.

But while waiting to hear the appeal, Justice Samuel Amobeda, the sitting judge, had conditionally ordered that N30 billion be put in the court’s bank account within seven days.

Marwan Ahmed, Kano State’s Commissioner for Works, may face repercussions if he keeps tampering with the assets in defiance of the court’s ruling.

The notice also included a warning that failure to abide by the order could result in contempt and imprisonment.