Mechanics operating at the Modern Mechanic Village at Avu in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State have pleaded with the state governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma to rescue them from the hands of land grabbers.
All hell was let loose on Monday, June 12, 2023 when bulldozers escorted by armed policemen in Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) stormed the Phase II of the village, mowing down workshops erected by the mechanics.
The driver of the bulldozer was said to be receiving instructions from the duo of Paschal Nwakanma and Uwadi Obiekeh reported to be acting at the behest of the state Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Physical Planning, Noble Atuelgwu.
Newsmen were told that trouble started when the mechanics resisted the invaders. The mechanics could not understand why their workshops which they built with their hard-earned funds could be reduced to rubble within minutes by the intruders.
Sources said the policemen who accompanied the invaders visited venom on the mechanics, pummeling many of them blue and black. The cops also fired sporadically into the air and arrested some of the mechanics who were bundled into the Armored Personnel Carrier.
The bedlam arising from the operation of the cops caused some customers of the mechanics to flee for their dear lives with some of them injuring themselves in the process. Speaking to reporters, the state Chairman of Nigerian Automobile Technician Association (NATA) Kyrian Nnadi expressed surprise at the action of the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Physical Planning. Nnadi described as unfortunate the manner the commissioner wants to trespass into their land, claiming that Governor Hope Uzodimma is backing him.
According to the chairman, it is a big lie from the pit of hell for the commissioner to claim that the governor approved the operation.
He informed that the Avu Mechanic Village was mapped out by the administration of Ndubuisi Kanu in 1976, designed by Governor Sam Mbakwe and successive governors respected the policy while Governor Rachas Okorocha did the actual acquisition and in addition released the sum of N100,000, 000.00(One Hundred Million Naira) to Imo mechanics for the roofing of their workshops in Phase I.
He argued that government is a continuum, adding that there is no way the same government that approved and acquired the land for mechanics will turn back to retake the same land from them. He appealed to Governor Uzodimma to warn the land grabbers to desist from their wicked act.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Avu Modern Mechanic Village, Ifeanyi Ugwuegbu (Bishop) frowned at the attitude of Commissioner Atulegwu and urged him to have a rethink on his inhuman action which would certainly attract repercussions to him.
