Illegal structures demolition: Enugu victims cry out over alleged injustice

EMOTION rose high at Ogbete Main Market in Enugu, the Enugu State capital last week as scores of traders wept openly when their structures were pulled down on the order of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Some of the victims and residents who craved anonymity told the Nigerian Tribune that they had been thrown into unemployment market due to the demolition exercise.

According to them, “we are not saying that government should not clear the roads for free flow of traffic and movement of people,  but our quarrel is that they did not give us any notice before carrying out the  wicked act.” said one of the victims, who claimed to be a graduate of Abia State University.

In his reaction, a victim and mobile phone accessory dealer, who simply identified himself as James who hails from Abia state, said “what Governor Ugwuanyi and his agents did to us was very unfair, especially at this critical period when we are suffering and the effect of the economic recession facing Nigeria.

The Electrical  Electronic Engineering graduate of Federal University of Technology (FUTO) Owerri, Imo State, added that “they did not give us notice to vacate our shops, apart from on Monday when the Governor came to the market  to announce the demolition exercise already fixed for the next day.

“My brother, you the media people should help us let  the world know what has befallen us in Enugu, the most wicked aspect of the whole thing is that after the demolition, they seized our wares.

Last Monday, Governor Ugwuanyi, paid an unscheduled visit to the major roads leading to Ogbete Main Market and New Market, Enugu, appealing to traders who erected illegal shops on the roadside to immediately relocate as the structures were billed for demolition to sanitise the state and give the markets and the environs a facelift.

The governor, who was accompanied by the Commissioner for Environment, Ambassador  Fidel Ayogu, District Police Officers of Ogui Road Station, Enugu, and Central Police Station, Ogbete Market, Enugu, Senior Officials of the Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority, among others, trekked the entire stretch of both markets to address the affected traders and identified illegal shops to be removed by the relevant government agencies.