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From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
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The President General of Electrical Market, Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State Chief JohnBosco Chike Onukwo has raised the alarm over awaiting disaster of falling tower at the market.
He said that the tower which was constructed at the market at about 19 years ago was at the verge of collapse if urgent action was not taken by pulling it down carefully before it causes disaster in the market.
Onukwo while addressing newsmen after their market prayer session, accused the former of coordinator of market evangelism Mr. Chikwube Nwankwo for the delay of pulling down of the falling tower due to none access to the tower by excavator.
He stated that the market leadership had appealed to Mr. Nwankwo whose goods and equipment blocked access to the foot of the tower, to remove those things to give way for the tower to be pulled down but to no avail.
Onukwo said that the same Nwankwo who reported to the Anambra State Physical Planning Board about the danger of the tower, which made the the agency to visit the site and marked the tower ‘remove immediately’ refused to evacuate his equipment and goods to give way to pull it down.
The PG who was flanked with the executive members, trustees and stakeholders of the market conducted newsmen round the falling tower, where they also appealed to the trader whose goods blocked the entrance to the place to remove it immediately in order to pull the tower down before its too late.
He said: “the market leadership will not be held responsible should the tower collapse. We are ready to pull it down but Nwankwo blatantly refused to remove his heavy equipment which he used to block the whole entrance to the tower by the evacuator. We have appealed to him severally. The office of the SA to the governor on trade came and appealed to him, the new council chairman of Idemili North came to appeal him and the Physical Planning Board came and marked the tower for immediate removal to avert impending danger but to no avail.
“We don’t want to take law into our hands and that is why we are still appealing to Mr. Nwankwo to urgently remove all blockages to pave way for evacuator to come into the place to pull down the tower because it is at the verge of collapsing.. This will avert danger when it collapse on its own. He claimed to come from governors town and for that he refused to do the needful to save lives in the market.
“I want to appeal to state government agencies to prevail on Mr. Nwankwo to remove his equipment to allow evacuator to pull down the tower. If the tower fall on its own it will destroy so many things including lives. My leadership is people oriented and I don’t want anything to bring more hardship or grief in the market, that’s why I want to carefully pull the tower down but somebody is playing politics with it, calling me names and blackmailing me for trying to save lives” he warned.
On his swift reaction, Mr. Nwankwo said that he was ready to remove his goods to give way for evacuator but had some impediments which he said was that the crane that can carry the heavy equipment to another site was not available.
“I was the person who has been crying all along to pull the tower down before it causes disaster. My life is not save here, my wife and my workers stays here, so we are not safe too. The Chairman of Idemili North came last week Friday and gave me two weeks to evacuate to heavy equipment. The crane that carries the equipment went to work at Ebonyi state and will stay there for six days. I promised that before the deadline it will be removed and they can pull the tower down” he assured.
