Court Orders Rivers State Government to Pay ₦1.1 Billion Compensation for Unlawful Demolitions

A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has mandated the Rivers State Government to compensate residents whose properties were unlawfully demolished in the Mile One and Mile Two waterfront areas of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area. The court found that the government had forcefully taken possession of the land without issuing formal notices or following due legal procedures.

The affected residents—drawn from communities such as Egede, Iruala, Elechi Phase One, Elechi Beach Waterfront, Nanka, Ogwu Waterfront, Okwele, and Soku Waterfront—filed a lawsuit in 2022, alleging violations of their fundamental rights.

Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Sika Aprioku ruled that the state authorities failed to notify the residents ahead of the demolitions and neither offered compensation nor provided alternative housing arrangements. As a result, the court awarded N900 million in damages for the infringement of the residents' rights and imposed an additional N2 million in fines, bringing the total payment to N1.1 billion.

Following the ruling, Tonye Igeri, legal counsel to the affected communities and a representative of the Justice and Empowerment Initiative, told journalists that the verdict brings relief and a sense of justice to the displaced residents. He called on the government to ensure that any future demolition exercises are preceded by proper identification of property owners, notification, and adequate compensation or resettlement.

The Rivers State Ministry of Justice, when approached for comments on the ruling, declined to respond.