Gidan Wuta: Kaduna ‘House of Hell’ where randy men catch fun with underage girls, married women, gays

ABOUT two weeks ago, residents of Unguwar Sarki and environs of Kaduna metropolis in Kaduna State woke up to the shock of a visit by officials of the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Agency (KADSUPDA) who had come to demolish a Kaduna hangout popularly known as ‘Gidan Wuta’ translated as ‘House of Hell.’

Inside the hangout, as soon as the sun sets under age boys and girls come alive, smoking and drinking and dancing to loud music. Drug peddling and all forms of vices are perpetrated as all sorts of characters move in and out and around the area.

The hangout, located at Katuru road in one of the upscale areas of the state capital, was at one time of the official residences of minister during the First Republic. Later, it was gathered that after the sharing of assets and liabilities among the 19 Northern states, it was allocated to the Nasarawa State government.

Arewa Live gathered that in 1998 during the regime of General Sani Abacha, the then military administrator of the state, Colonel Bala Mande, started renovation work on the property. The plan then was to have a befitting guest house which could shore up its internally generated revenue base.

Unfortunately, before long, the dream of the former military administrator became a mirage as successive governments in the state abandoned the project.

An indigene of Nasarawa living in Kaduna State, Lawal Ibrahim, disclosed that the state’s stakeholders tried their best to ensure that the edifice was restored but it was not to be.

“We wrote many correspondences asking government officials to come and complete the project, yet nothing tangible happened,” he said, lamenting that the work which had attained 65 pe rcent completion was abandoned, adding that indigenes were not always happy whenever they were reminded that the house had become a hideout for criminals, miscreants and the dregs of the society.

“We are praying that with the current development, the state government will now do the needful by completing the renovation works which started over two decades ago. Other similar properties belonging to states like Benue, Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Niger, among others within the same vicinity had since been converted to either liaison offices or guest houses. Nasarawa too should take a leaf from these states,” Ibrahim said.

Thus, when earth-moving equipment were brought to Gidan Wuta that early morning and began to pull down the illegal structures erected within the compound of the abandoned building, residents of the area gathered to hail the state governor for taking such a bold step.

The demolition was not meant to be a surprise. Warnings by the state government which had been issued much earlier for occupiers and squatters to vacate the building had fallen on deaf ears. It was also gathered that when Governor Nasir el-Rufai heard about the goings-on in the building, he visited the house to see things for himself.

A government source, who would not like to be identified because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, revealed that the governor was angry to see youths actively involved in ithe mmoralities going on in the property.

The source said “he (the governor) made a call to the Managing Director of KASUPDA and gave him the orders to roll in the equipment to pull down all illegal structures within the building.

“In spite of the orders, KASUPDA still wrote to the occupants including the youths to vacate the house. After the expiration of the three-week notice and the occupants still refused to comply, the following morning, the demolition was carried out.”

However, some of the youths who were ejected from the building, while speaking with Arewa Live, described the action of the state government as cruel. One of them who did not want to be identified said, “we don’t have anything doing except this our petty trading. That’s what we depend on to feed our families.”

A mai shai (tea/beverage seller), Ibrahim Nuhu, said that he was still making brisk business when he was suddenly asked to remove his structure, adding: “I don’t know where to start. I am confused.”

Also, a vulcaniser using a part of the property who wouldn’t like to be named similarly lamented the demolition order, calling on the state government to rescind it as he was only making a decent living by plying his trade in front of the house.

Hajara, a 15-year-old girl who used to come and catch fun with her friends in the area, noted that “the governor has killed our joy. We come here (House of Hell) every day. I smoked shisha (a form of pipe smoking) with my friends and we spent the night enjoying ourselves, that’s all. We don’t make trouble.”

Another aggrieved youth, who simply gave his name as Nura, contended that most of those who came to catch fun at the spot did so because they were idle and had no job.

According to him, “most of our parents cannot afford to send us to higher institutions. We usually come here to while away the time and catch fun with friends.”

Yunus Usman, a trader, whose small kiosk in the vicinity was demolished, said that he sells cigarettes and kolanuts, adding that though his source of livelihood has been affected by the recent demolition, the action of the governor was a timely intervention. He was of the view that the youths should have a rethink, lead a more decent life and plan well for the future.

Speaking in the same vein, a resident told that the affected youths had been economical with the truth. He said he had lived in the area for decades, noting that Gidan Wuta was a security risk to other residents of the area.

He said: “We have heard of people coming to buy things and at the end of the day, they complained that some hoodlums attacked them and took their handsets or other valuables.

“Usually when they commit such crimes, they ran into the ‘House of Hell’ for protection. No person in his correct senses would follow such a criminal into this hideout.

“Everyone who lives around the area would tell you how young girls and boys patronised the hangout. Usually, once it is evening, the whole place turned into a beehive. It was worrisome. Youths between the ages of 13 and 18 were often seen carrying out all sorts of illicit acts.

“Many of them were thieves, prostitutes, drug addicts, lesbians, gays, Indian hemp smokers, drunkards, cocaine pushers, just name it,” he stressed.

Dangombe, a cleaner in one of the liaison offices of some states located in the area, said that the action of the government was commendable as the young girls and boys patronising the relaxation joint have constituted themselves into nuisances who commit crime at will and go scot free.

“Let me tell you a story of a colonel who came to buy fish there and he was attacked by these youths. Unknown to them, he is a serving colonel. He came back with some soldiers who came to the house and beat up all those who were around,” he said.

He added that: “At the end of the day, those who carried out the attack were identified and eventually arrested. Can you believe that within a short time, the colonel’s stolen handset had travelled as far as Tudun Wada and even been sold before it was retrieved?”

Speaking further on ‘House of Hell,’ Dangombe disclosed further that “randy men were bringing young girls between the ages of 13 and 18 to the house for sex; even married women were brought for illicit affairs.

“At night too, the girls and boys dance to loud music till the wee hours of the day. We don’t enjoy our sleep. Every day, no fewer than 50 girls and boys hang out in the house till about 5.00 a.m before leaving for their respective homes.”

The good thing now, according to Dangombe, is that life has returned to normal in the area just as the street is now empty.

“Residents are now relieved. During the day, you wouldn’t see any of the youths roaming the streets and when it is night, the whole area is just like a graveyard now,” he said.