Some residents and shop owners in Awka, Anambra State capital, were thrown into wailing and weeping moods, as Anambra State Government resumed demolition exercise in the area, barely four days after the last lap of the 2023 General Election. Started on Wednesday, the demolition exercise, which is being carried out by the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), affects over one hundred shops, hotels, and residential apartments, located along the Oby Okoli Avenue, which stretches from UNIZIK Temporary Site Junction to across Okpuno village in Awka. ATM facilities, churches, and some other marked structures in the area were also not spared.
It was gathered that the structures were earlier marked for demolition by the ACTDA, which gave their owners seven (7) days to remove them (before January 25, 2023) or have them crushed to rubbles by the Authority. However, given a public outcry and series of media publications on the planned demolition and the shortness of the notice, the Authority suspended the exercise and gave a ‘grace period’ of barely one month.
Although, some of the affected residents and shop owners had already dismantled, relocated, or evacuated some of their facilities and wares ahead of the expiration of the first deadline to avoid incurring much loss. To some others, the second extension was a sort of relief, as they were yet to move a single pin from their shops in preparation for the appointed day. It was, however, surprising to many of the shop owners and the residents as the officials of the ACTDA were nowhere to be found to start the demolition (as expected) when the second deadline elapsed on February 24.
It was understood, by many, to mean that the Authority had suspended the planned demolition because of General Election, which kicked off on February 25. The election period apparently tarried till March 18, when the last lap of it, the House of Assembly Election was held.
Be it as it may, the residents and the shop owners were taken by surprise when, barely four days after the elections, the officials of the Authority stormed the area with a heavy-duty caterpillar and started crushing down some structures in the area. This forced others whose structures were also marked to start hastening up and calling for assistance to evacuate their wares before the demolition could get to their turns.
The rush helped minimize losses for some, while some were not fortunate enough to take out a single ware from their shops before it got to their shops. Currently, over 80 shops, residential house and other structures have so far been demolished in the area, with many victims still struggling to rescue their trapped wares, while metal scrap dealers count it lucky as they feast on the metal scraps.
Some of the victims of the demolition who spoke to Our Correspondent including Kingsley Umeh, Josephine Mbachu, and Judith Igwebuike described the demolition as unwarranted, unexpected and destabilizing, given the current economic realities in the country.
Many of them said they just recently renewed or paid their rents and expressed worry that such ‘unfortunate‘situation is befalling them in the first quarter of the year. They also wondered what could be the government’s reason for the demolition, as their shops are not illegally sited, nor did they block the drainage channels or have any structural defects.
In his quest to find out the actual reason behind the demolition, in an interview the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ACTDA, Mr. Ossy Onuko, after he visited the site to inspect the demolition. His request for interview was, however, turned down by the ACTDA Boss, who said he doesn’t have any business with the media, and directed hi…
[17:57, 26/03/2023] +234 806 627 4114: Concorde Hotel Owerri is in coma – Staff
By Ikenna Orioha
A staff of Concorde Hotel Owerri who did not want his name in print has alleged that the public establishment has been in coma due to negligence and mismanagement of its resources by management. Speaking to our reporter who visited the hotel recently, the staff pointed out that the hotel which is acclaimed to be a 5- Star hotel is now a shadow of itself as nothing seems to be working there. He observed that water, power, including facilities at the hotel are in shambles given to poor management and government shenanigan and lack of political will in investing hugely on commerce and industry, tourism, culture, art and theatre (entertainment). “Regrettably, Concorde Hotel Owerri is now a shadow of itself. Nothing works there. It has problems of poor power and water supply, decay of facilities and under -staffing and number of customers had reduced drastically with many rooms there being deserted. Virtually, all the departments including the toilets and bathrooms have totally decayed. No water to flush the toilet after use due to lack of power and water. The hotel which used to be rated as one of the best in South East especially in terms of facilities, activities, services, quality of food, drinks and number of workforce is now a shadow”, the staff stressed. The staff who further revealed that the hotel has turned to an abode where mainly government functionaries including politicians now live, called on the Imo State government to quickly intervene to restore the status quo of Concorde Hotel Owerri, saying the repositioning of the hotel would create more employment to Imo youths. However, efforts made to hear from the management of Concorde Hotel Owerri proved futile.
[17:58, 26/03/2023] +234 806 627 4114: In Anambra, 5 lynched to death for snatching phone
From Uchenna Ezeadigwe
Awka
Luck ran out of five suspected phone snatchers as they met their waterloo in Awka, Anambra State capital on Saturday. News Echo learnt that angry youths apprehended and set them on fire while allegedly attempting to rob some passers-by of their phones. According to a video from the scene, currently trending on the social media, the incident happened along the Old People’s Club Road in Okpuno village, Awka. The video shows one of the suspected robbers lying lifeless and half-naked on the road, and surrounded by the crowd, who were still raining weapons and abuse on him; while his suspected accomplices were already cruising on fire. As that was going on, tyres, planks and other combustibles started surfacing from nowhere and landing on the suspect. The defiant mob also played some pranks with the genital organ of the suspect, before they eventually poured fuel on him and lit him up. Okpuno village in Awka, especially the Woman Lecturer Axis, and some parts of Nodu village, have been very notorious for different kinds of robbery incidents, most especially phone snatching and other such robberies, which usually happens during early, lonely and late hours of the day. Efforts to get the reaction of the Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, on the incident, proved abortive, as at time of filing this report.
