Landlords Pay Rent as insecurity triggers housing crisis in Kaduna

Repeated kidnappings and attacks in communities on the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis are forcing residents to abandon their homes for rented apartments in the city.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the development is driving up rents and threatening the investments of low-income homeowners.

From Baban Saura to Danhon II in Millennium City at the outskirts of Kaduna, residents who spent years building their houses are increasingly choosing to relocate rather than risk abduction and ransom demands.

“I rented a self-contained apartment for N600,000, and many people say I got it cheap because houses are now very expensive in the city,” said Yakubu Dahiru, who abandoned his home in Danhon II community to Malali following attacks in his community.

“The insecurity is no longer in the villages; the bandits are coming closer to us, and it is better to leave than to be abducted and then forced to sell the house to pay ransom,” he said.

Dahiru said he had not returned home since the attack on his community last year and had been unable to find anyone willing to rent or guard the property because of fear.

Residents in new layouts across Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Chikun and Igabi Local Government Areas are increasingly abandoning their properties to move to areas they consider safer locations within the metropolis.

For more than a decade, such layouts provided affordable homeownership opportunities for lower-income earners who purchased plots and gradually developed their houses.

The opening of the Eastern Bypass in Kaduna encouraged the growth of these settlements, according to an estate surveyor.

Umar Mohammed, a Kaduna-based estate surveyor, said market women and people engaged in menial jobs had invested in the layouts because land was relatively affordable.

However, insecurity is now forcing some homeowners to sell their properties at unfavourable prices or leave them unoccupied.

Saidu Hamza, a resident of Danhono II, said he relocated his family to Ilorin in Kwara after an attack on his community and had put his three-bedroom house with an adjoining two-bedroom apartment up for sale.

“With the security situation in the area, the price I am being offered is not very encouraging, and I could not leave my family there knowing the place is unsafe,” he said.

The displacement has also increased demand for accommodation in Kaduna metropolis, with estate agents reporting substantial rent increases.

Maiunguwa Ibrahim, an estate agent operating around Kurmin Mashi, Gwamna Road and Badiko, told NAN that rents for some three-bedroom apartments along Gwamna Road had risen from between N1.2 million and N1.5 million to between N3 million and N3.5 million.

Mohammed attributed the increase to a shortage of available apartments amid the influx of residents fleeing insecure communities.

The situation compounds Nigeria’s housing challenge, with the World Bank’s Nigeria Affordable Housing Project 2018 estimating a national housing deficit of 17 million units and an annual requirement of about 700,000 housing units over 20 years.

Security sources told NAN that the scattered nature of houses in new layouts, inadequate fencing, limited security posts and proximity to forested areas made some communities vulnerable to attacks.

The concerns have been reinforced by recurring abductions in Millennium City and neighbouring areas, including the kidnapping of two journalists two years ago

More recently, gunmen reportedly killed a man identified as Sikiru in Baban Saura community and abducted his wife, Hafsat, their 14-year-old son, Abdulsalam, and six other persons.

Hafsat and her son are still in captivity, according to a family member.

In Millennium City, a couple and their six-month-old daughter were abducted from Alrahus Estate on October 6.

The husband, Ahmed Abubakar Zakka, appealed for help in a viral video, saying the kidnappers demanded N300 million ransom.

Amnesty International Nigeria has also warned that residents of Millennium City face persistent threats from armed men, with some families abandoning their homes and others suspending their children’s education.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Police Command on Monday said it had arrested 12 suspects, including eight suspected kidnappers and four alleged informants, during operations in Millennium City and Maraban Rido.

The command said the Kaduna State Government had released three additional armoured personnel carriers to strengthen security operations in the affected areas.

Retired Capt. Abdullahi Umar, a security commentator, urged the government to support neighbourhood watch initiatives and strengthen collaboration between security agencies, traditional rulers and community leaders.

He said community vigilance could complement security operations, particularly in settlements where the number of deployed personnel was insufficient for the size of the area.

The growing displacement highlights how insecurity is extending beyond physical attacks to affect housing affordability, household investments and livelihoods, leaving residents paying rising rents while their own homes remain abandoned. (NAN)