HOUSES and shop owners sited at Orie market in Utuh, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State are counting their losses as they claim that their properties have been pulled down unjustly without any compensation in order to give way to the building of a community model plaza.
Crying while speaking to news men, one of the victims who is a widow, Mrs. Louisa Ndedigwe said, ’’this land belongs to my late husband and he built the shops there before he died.
“He even gave a portion of the land to the community when he was alive and now that he is dead they want to confiscate the land because it is in a high brow area.
They claim that Anambra state government wants to build plaza there”.
She said ”it is from here that I fend for what my children will eat, it is a pure intimidation and I call on Governor Willie Obiano to come to my rescue”.
Contacted the President General of the Community, Chief Fabian Onwughalu said, “some families including that of Mrs. Ndedigwe donated the said land to the community from time immemorial and now the Government wants to build a plaza there”.
“The Ndedigwe family and the others approached the community then and pleaded to build some make-shift structures there to help them feed their families and that they will remove the structures when we are ready”.
“Now we have written them to inform them that the state government has selected the place to build a plaza and they refused”, he started.
In a swift reaction, a coalition of civil society groups led by its secretary, Comrade Charles Ejefonye warned that they would take legal action against the town union if they demolished the buildings/shops of the widow without compensation.
Reiterating the resolve of the human right body to protect the downtrodden, its scribe added that the group would not hesitate to also recover the said land for the owners.
and then