By Brave Dickson
Muslims in Rivers State have insisted that Governor Nyesom Wike led state government demolished their Trans Amadi Central mosque under construction.
Their insistence came after the state governor dismissed claims that his administration demolished Trans Amadi mosque.
Governor Wike who visited the site himself had told newsmen that there was no mosque there, describing the news of mosque demolition by the state government as falsehood.
Wike said, “the land was under litigation and we won it in court and Muslims have gone on appeal. So, nobody has the legal right to build on land that is before the court.
“I challenge the Muslim community to identify where they built the mosque and the state government demolished it. I want everybody to see it and it is clear that there was no mosque as claimed.”
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But Muslims in the state have maintained that the state government came in with armed security agents and bulldozers to demolish their Trans Amadi mosque under construction after Muslims have won their case with the state government in court.
In an interview with the State Islamic Leader and Vice President General, Rivers State Council For Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Nasir Awhelebe Uhor said, “our brothers who are building that mosque bought that land from their landlords in Trans-Amadi legally. When the state government repeatedly trespassed on the land, the landlords who sold it to Muslims now decided to take the state government to court.
“While the matter was in court, the court gave Muslims permission to use the land for prayers pending the determination of the substantive suit.
“When the case now ended in favour of Muslims and the state government did not appeal it, our Muslim brothers now went back to start constructing a mosque on the land.
“It was the ongoing construction of the mosque that the state government has gone to demolish without any warning.
“In fact, the state government just came in there with armed security agents and bulldozed everything and dug a huge gutter there.
“So it is not true to say that the state government won the case in court. Which case do they win? There are also documents showing that the land is not on government plan and the state government had approved all relevant papers required for building to our Muslim brothers there who had paid all the necessary fees.
“What the state government did was outrageous and provocative. In as much as we seek to always be law-abiding, we do not expect anybody to take us for granted. If the state government refuses to redress this damage done on our mosque under construction, we will meet in court again.”
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