Residents pray against demolition by TCN in Kano

Residents of Gaida area of Kumbotso LGA in Kano have organised a prayer session against a notice of two weeks issued to them by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to vacate their houses built under power lines for demolition.

The company said all houses built under its power lines in the state would be pulled down.

Speaking after prayer sessions, which were attended by men, women and children, the residents said they were not paid compensation, and urged the state government to help them as they have nowhere to live.

One of the residents, Aisha Isyaku, said they were upset after the notice as they don’t know what to do.

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She said, “We are orphans and our father died when we were kids. We have no other place to live. That is why we decided to join the prayer and also appeal to the government to look into our situation.”

On his part, the leader of the organisers, Umar El-Baba, said they are ready to leave the houses but must be compensated.

He said the authority claimed to have paid them compensation 40 years ago, but the places were farms in those days.

“If you look at this place, the majority of the people are poor. Ninety per cent of us find it difficult to eat twice a day. Last year they said they would pay compensation, but now they just issued a notice to us.”

Speaking to Dala Fm in Kano, Engineer Dantiye Bello of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Kano office, said there was nothing like compensation since it was the people that built their houses across the power lines.

He said every year they went round and marked structures built under power lines, but the people went ahead and built houses, adding that they paid compensation when they were placing the power lines.

Dantiye said over the years, the people have been causing delays to their projects that would improve the electricity supply in the state.