Mr Tanko Berji, a Minna-based legal practitioner and deputy chairman of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose multi- million naira one-storey building    housing his law firm was burnt down last Wednesday by miscreants during anti-fuel subsidy removal protests, spoke with ADELOWO OLADIPO on the loss. Excerpts:

Can you please tell us how you received the news of the destruction of your one-storey Law chamber building by some rampaging protesters in the name of anti- subsidy demonstration last Wednesday in Minna?

Well, I was still on bed, when I was called at about 8:30 in the morning that some miscreants were around the office and  that they must  have been there probably for something and that I must act immediately to save the office from being vandalised. The first thing  I did was to place a call to my security guard because I have a guard in the office and the guard confirmed to me that  the office was already taken-over and surrounded by about 200  miscreants and that they were chanting war songs.

The next person I called was the  Area Commander of the Police, Minna Area Division. After placing a call to him, I called the Chief Security Officer of the Government House too. But apparently, before the Police got there, the boys had started what took them there and that is the story.

What can you say was responsible for the invasion of your office by the hoodlums ?

Well, certainly, that is obvious. Not even me,  even you will read political meaning into it. That complex is not a government complex. Two, the owner is not a government employee three, there is no inscription of government on that premises that would suggest to the miscreants that this is a government-owned property. Instead, the inscription there shows that the office is a place for legal practice and anybody who had lived in Minna  will know that that place is not a place where government businesses take place.

If you insist that your office is not an extension of the Government House, why the attack?

Well,  if you look at last Wednesday’s incident in Minna,  you will have no option than to conclude that  political opponents in the state had hijacked the  protest  to vent their anger on some selected Peoples Democratic Party’s stalwarts in the state. First, it was me, second, it was Senator Dahiru Aweisu Kuta, third, is the gubernatorial campaign office of the incumbent Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, fourth,  was Captain James Baitachi’s residence and fifth,  though that was averted, was the residence of a Permanent Commissioner in the Niger State Education Board, who happens to be a younger brother to the Governor.

Now, if you look at the incidences, then you will have no option than to say that what took place last Wednesday was politically motivated.

Going by these attacks, is it correct to say that the PDP-controlled government has lost touch with people of  the state?

I will disagree with you  on that.  Why did they not vent their anger on the political leadership. Why did they not target government properties which are the symbols of the leadership?

But the old secretariat  where  the Ministry of Agriculture  is was attacked, the Niger state Development Agency Ltd., the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission and some of the beautification projects being embarked upon by the state government, including the office of the Federal Inland Revenue Service were all destroyed by the so-called miscreants.

Why they attacked the Federal Inland  Revenue Board is because the management and it employees were asking for revenue. That was the explanation because they met the chairman of the revenue board in the office and it was amazing that they did not touch him. The hoodlums were quoted to have said that “we are aiming at what you used to collect revenue from people”. And they burnt down 14 vehicles. But even at that, if the idea was to show that they were dissatisfied with the political leadership, they should have aimed at the political leaders. Hence, if there is no other motives to the selective attacks, why did they vent their anger on private individuals. Can anybody say that our Senator, Senator Dahiru Kuta is not doing well in the senate? If you count about four of five Senators in Nigeria by what they say in the hallowed chambers and by way of performance, Senator Dahiru would be one of the five Senators that are very vibrant in the senate. And if you are talking about closeness to the people, apart from the late Senator Idris Kuta, Dahiru is one Senator that is very close to his constituency. In fact, from his fence, you will know that he is a people’s senator because his fence is a dwarf fence. The hoodlums jumped through the fence to his house  that fateful Wednesday when he was not around.

How close are you to the people, as the Party’s deputy chairman in the state?

Well, I should not assess myself, rather it is your responsibility to tell me who I am. The facts speak for themselves. I am someone that by mere seeing me, you can call me somebody who is  down-to-earth. It did not take you two minutes to come to my house. You did not see a guard in front of my house, I don’t keep enemies, instead, I make   more friends.

Are you disappointed that you invested your hard-earned resources in Minna?

I am not disappointed, rather, I am encouraged by the development, and I want to say that by the grace of God, even if it would take me another seven years, the edifice that would come out would be better than  the former one. And I am consoled by the fact that God is in control. If I had died in the process it would have been another thing.   It has strenghtened my faith by virtue of my age. What has happened cannot  deter me because I see what has happened as  envy by  people who have not worked hard to attain to the level I am.

Can you  quantify your loss  to the inferno?

Well, I came to my office about seven years ago because it took me seven years to build it. And I moved in about five years ago. You can see that the office was razed down completely.  What is left in the office at the moment , is just the roof. The 40 KVA generator is gone,  about 13 split air conditioners are gone.

Some were looted. I  also had three plasma televisions. One was in the reception and two in two other offices. They were also carted away. I had two refrigerators, they were carted away. Other things that could not be carted away were damaged or burnt. But that is not  my concern. My concern as a lawyer is my hard-earned investments  of over 20 years.

You know the value of law books to a lawyer. My entire library is gone and that is my major concern. As a lawyer, have been in practice for 21 years now because I was called to the Bar in 1991 and since then, I have been in private practice. And I started buying my books two years after, because the first   two years, I was trying to survive, to struggle.

Two years later, I started buying my books and today all the books are in ashes. Today, all my reference files are in ashes. Today, all my materials in terms of diskettes are in ashes. My library is gone and that is my concern. The air conditioners or generators, you can go to the markets and pick them. How I can now revive my library is my concern. And that,   you cannot  quantify in monetary terms. I can tell you that my  library that I had built is gone and by that you know what I mean.

Did you insure the library in case of unforeseen circumstances like this tragedy that has occurred?

Well, that is another matter entirely. Even if the property was insured like I did, how much can the insurance firm pay me and no matter what amount the insurance   firm pays you, can you get back your entire library with what the insurance firm  will give you? Then, how long will it take you to pursue an insurance firm to give you your money? But I also believe that this God is a merciful God, though I do not think I have done anything to  deserve what has happened to me. God will fish out the perpetrators of the acts. Even if one cannot get to the roots of the matter now, some days to come, God will expose these evil doers.