Yesterday, we literally watched our house get demolished in less than 30 minutes. And I still don’t think I’ve fully processed it. We were given about 72 hours to pack up our lives. But how do you give people 21 days’ notice, and then less than five days later, show up early in the morning screaming that they have 15 minutes to get their things out before you start hitting the walls? 15 minutes. You didn’t even bother to properly check the building. You didn’t stop to ask if there were still people inside. You didn’t give people enough time to collect their belongings. You just came and started destroying people’s homes. How heartless do you have to be? And I keep asking myself: where exactly are we supposed to go? If this were a reasonable, functioning system, if you’re going to demolish people’s homes and displace them, there should at least be a plan for what happens to those people afterwards. A temporary place to stay. Enough time to actually find somewhere else. Some form of support. Because have you ever tried house hunting in Abuja? You can spend months looking for somewhere you can actually afford, somewhere in a decent location, somewhere that works for you. So imagine being stripped of your home in less than 24 hours and being expected to just figure out your next move. My things are literally scattered all over Abuja right now. Some are here. Some are there. Some things I couldn’t even properly pack. And somehow, life is still expected to continue. I have a job. I have responsibilities. I have places I need to be. I have things I need to do. But my entire living situation was turned upside down in less than a day. And for what? A road expansion? I can literally count how many people pass that road in a day. And I understand that development has to happen. I understand that roads have to be expanded. But development should not mean completely disregarding the people whose lives are being disrupted in the process. Where are we supposed to go? Seriously, where are we supposed to go? Some of us could barely even pack up everything we owned. But this is Nigeria. And as much as you cry, shout, plead or complain, sometimes it feels like nothing is going to happen because the power is already where it is. They will do what they want to do, and ordinary people are left to deal with the aftermath. And that is the part that hurts the most. Because this wasn’t just a building. It was home. It was where we lived. Where we kept our things. Where we made memories. Where we felt safe. And yesterday, I watched it disappear in less than 30 minutes. This is so unfair. So incredibly unfair. #abuja #housesinabuja #fyp #demolished - @ene_uncovered