Leaders of the Muslim community in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have accused government officials of harassing them following the demolition of Rainbow Town Central Mosque located at the
Trans-Amadi.
Speaking to DailyTrust, the chairman of the mosque, Alhaji Abdullahi Musa Tabaco, said the Mosque was demolished by state officials who came with armed policemen to pull down the building which had gone up to DPC level. The officials who pulled down the building cited non-compliance with the state urban development laws.
He said: “We bought the land about four plots from one Chief Amadi in
2008 and approval was given for the building in 2009. In 2010, we
started putting up pillars and fencing of the land; while the
foundation of the mosque was laid in 2010. The first demolition was
carried out by (former Governor) Amaechi on the 5th of February, 2010
and this resulted in litigation between Chief Amadi and Rivers State
Government.
“On November 2, 2017, a judgment was delivered in favour of Chief
Amadi. Rivers State did not appeal the judgment and we started another
round of construction of the building in 2018.”
Appealing for the site to be used for worship, Tabaco noted that “the mosque is the only worship centre in the
whole of Trans Amadi area where more than 4,000 worshippers worship
every Friday”.
The demolition was also condemned by the leader of the Hausa community in the state, Alhaji
Musa Saidu.
The imam of the mosque, Alhaji Haroon Muhammed, said: “This is the
most populated mosque. Muslims all over the world can see what has
happened to a mosque that is duly approved by the state government. We
have been harassed three times now – once on the 29th of last month,
then on August 16 and 20 without any formal notice.”
Reacting to the demolition, the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Information, Polinious Nsirim, said, “I am not aware of the demolition
of the Mosque. I have no information on this.”