*Says: I did not send anyone to evict artistes
He assured the visibly agitated artistes that at no time did he, or anyone in the Federal Government, order the demolition of any structure within the village.
Following the ugly incident on Saturday which saw scores of policemen commandeered by one Kabiru Yusuf invade the Artistes village at the National Theater, the Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has paid an unscheduled visit to the center.
The Minister distanced the Federal Government from the demolition that took place earlier today at the premises of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Artistes Village.
Mr. Mohammed paid unscheduled visit to the Arts center following an outcry over the maltreatment and heavy financial losses suffered by artistes who are also legal tenants in the center.
He assured the visibly agitated artistes that at no time did he, or anyone in the Federal Government, order the demolition of any structure within the village.
According to him, the instruction was for the National Theater management to demolish illegal shanties outside the village which has defaced the center.
He assured that the FG will do everything to ensure that artistes whose works were destroyed are duly compensated while the hospital bills for those who sustained various degrees of injuries will be picked up by the Federal government.
Attached are some pictures from the demolition site of Saturday, January, 2016:
Onwuasoanya FCC Jones
