Angry residents of Hargeisa destroyed irons sheets and buildings materials meant to develop by a local tycoon part of land belonging to Sheikh Ali Osman School popularly known as RIIS.
The irate residents not only tore down the iron iron sheets placed as fence covering the chopped off RIIS School land but took personal ownership of the said as well as other relevant building materials like cement, crowbars etc.
The incident is said to have started on the eve of Friday night when citizens neighbouring the school witnessed start of construction works at the land which had been in the rumors as having changed hands from public to private.
Intent on identifying the new private owner of part of the renown educational institution, sources indicate that an all night vigil was effected, but in vain till late Saturday morning.
Upon the purported owner failing to appear the irate citizens took law into their hands thus destroying all the structures put in place by the private developer cum owner.
While the land thanks to vigilant members of the public is back to its right full owner, RIIS school, both the central and Hargeisa local government claim to be unaware of neither the purported owner or means by which he or she presumably acquired the property.
In response to a query by HCTV the somalilamd minister of public works and Housing Ali Hasan Mohamed Marehaan said that his ministry which has mandate over public land is not aware of the alleged change of hands of the school’s land.
“While I am in consultation with the mayor of Hargeisa on the issue, police under direct supervision of Brigadier Fadal Imaan are protecting the school property” said minister Ali Marehaan
For a long time public land has been changing hands at a very fast speed and the ant-RIIS School land grabbing appears to be the very first salvo by fed-up citizens
Oh the public property grabbers, BE WARY of the CITIZEN risen in anger