A Chinese construction company, Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) on Saturday ordered the arrest of a journalist with LEADERSHIP newspaper, Mr. Kunle Olasanmi for demanding for the repairs of his damaged property located in Garam community, a suburb of Bwari Area Council of FCT.
Also yesterday, residents of the area were dispersed with Soldiers after they staged a protest against the insensitivity of the company has shown since their properties were damaged.
The angry residents of the area, numbering about 50 had mobilised themselves as early as 6:30am on Saturday to the construction site where CCECC workers have been working to register their protest against what they described as insensitivity with which the company is handling the issue of compensation due to them but were dispersed with soldiers.
They blocked all the entry and exit points to different sites of the company in the locality with rocks forcing workers comprising Nigerians and Chinese to abandon work for the day.
Some of the company’s trucks that had arrived sites very early were also prevented from going in or out.
The aggrieved residents are those whose properties were damaged by a twin rock blasts carried out by the company in the months of January and February while constructing railway line.
The blast had left many houses shattered while some suffered serious structural damages following which the company’s Public Relations Manager, Aminu Mohammed appealed to the owners of affected properties that CCECC would take responsibility for the blast and compensate all the victims adequately.
The first blast took place on January 20 while the second blast was carried out on February 28, 2014.
However, one week after taken stock of the damages, residents have been waiting on the company to fulfill its promises and were irked by the commencement of rainfall which according to them has since made living in those damaged houses uncomfortable.
While the protest lasted, the company’s Personnel Manager, Davids Oladokun, who addressed the protesters, apologized on behalf of the company for the damages and discomfort the blasts have brought to them.
He gave assurance that the company had already started work on all the stock of damages taken with the view to giving adequate compensation to the victims.
Oladokun, who said he shared in the grieve of the victims pleaded with them to exercise patience for the company to reach out to them on Sunday even as he advised against violence conduct during the demonstration.
However, not long after the Personnel Manager’s departure of the scene of demonstration when detachment of men of Nigerian Army attached to the site office of the company arrived in a Hilux Toyota Van.
The heavily armed soldiers ordered that all the roads earlier blocked by the protesters be removed.
They had come to the scene on the invitation of a Chinese national, who was earlier denied exit by the protesters.
This led to a hot argument during which a digital camera belonging to one of the protesters, Christian Asogwo was smashed by one of the security personnel while one of the protesters’ spokespersons, Kunle Olasanmi was beaten and whisked away by the soldiers.
Olasanmi, a journalist with Leadership newspaper and whose house was also badly damaged had his shirt torn while he had bruises all over his body due to the beating he received from soldiers.
One of the victims of the rock blasts, Joe Joseph whose house was damaged by rocks sent away by the blast lamented that he and his family members could no longer reside in the house as it is no longer habitable.
“See, my roof has been shattered, look at those two big holes at the base of my house created by the rocks that hit the house. Since rain has started, it has become difficult for us to live in this house” he said.
According to Ismaila Adamu whose house also has serious structural damaged insisted that the foundation of his house which tremor from the two blasts has shaken must be taken care of by the company as part of compensation.
Among those whose houses were shattered by the blasts are three journalists, Adelanwa Bamgboye of Daily Trust Newspaper, Kunle Olasanmi of Leadership and Yekeen Nurudeen of New Telegraph.
