5 years after, Abuja artists protest centre’s closure

Members of the Abuja Arts and Craft Village, on Monday, held a peaceful protest over the continued closure of the village, shut down on February 10, 2017.

The protest took place behind the facility, near the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

Leaders of the association, comprising artists and craftsmen, as well as traders, lamented that the action, allegedly carried out by the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), under its Director General (DG), Otunba Segun Runsewe, had ruined their businesses.

Speaking to newsmen, President of the African Arts and Culture Heritage Association (AACHA), Nze Kanayo Chukwmezie, said the facility once came under a mysterious fire incident, affecting many shops.

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Also speaking, the group’s Secretary General, Lawal Shuaibu, said all court orders for the facility to be reopened had never been complied with by the agency.

He said, “We have now learnt that they are planning to bring in outsiders to take over the place for the same business, and in the long run convert it to a five-star hotel, hence we notified some security agencies about that as law-abiding people.’’

Reacting through telephone, the DG of NCNC, Runsewe, said the land was owned by the government and as such it had taken over possession of the facility.

When reminded that there were court injunctions for the facility to be reopened, Runsewe said the agency had equally secured an injunction granting its recovery.