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From Aloysius Attah (Onitsha), Obinna Odogwu (Awka), and David Onwuchekwa (Nnewi)
The Anambra State government recently commenced demolition of illegal structures in line with the urban renewal plan listed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo on assumption of office on March 17.
The exercise took off in commercial city of Onitsha. One of the first buildings affected was the Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry, Onitsha, owned by controversial cleric, Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanaemere, popularly known as Odumeje, the Indabosky.
The government has said that its bulldozers would move to Awka, the state capital, Nnewi and Ekwulobia, as soon as the Onitsha operation was over, reiterating its resolve to engender a clean, livable and prosperous state.
Already, there is anxiety and palpable fears in Nnewi and Ekwulobia as residents expect the government’s taskforce on demolition of illegal structures.
In Onitsha, the quest to acquire property and make money from tenants made many landlords to do the unthinkable.
They build on waterways, drainage channels, valleys, hills and even in deep gullies.
Funny enough, the town planning authorities which regulate and approve such buildings turn the other way after allegedly collecting huge sums and thus allowing buildings to be erected on dangerous places.
Onitsha landlords know how to bribe their way to get what they wanted and that explains the scenario where structures already marked for demolition or ‘stop-work’ on further development will after sometime be allowed to continue and nobody says anything despite the fact that such building is a potential threat.
Such uncontrolled development cause flooding because of blockage of drainage and are in most cases tragedy waiting to happen through building collapse.
Many administrations in tye state in the past had tried to restore the Onitsha Master Plan but could not implement such policies either due to lack of willpower or divided attention to other projects.
So, when the Soludo-led administration hinted on carrying out urban renewal programme in the commercial city, it elicited mixed reactions.
While some dismissed it as another government gimmick, others were apprehensive that the move will affect them economically since they will lose fortunes following any demolition exercise.
Some of the warehouses and plazas built within the Onitsha Main Market were built on waterways where the developers sand-filled coastal water areas and erected structures on them.
The demolition exercise which started at Fegge axis of Onitsha had so far affected institutions and churches, but other landlords are apprehensive knowing that in the coming weeks, their commercial buildings, including shops and warehouses will be affected.
The pulling down of part of the structure of Odumeje’s church built on waterways elicited outcry especially with the manhandling of the controversial prophet by security operatives.
But the Anambra State government said the demolition exercise commenced because the two-month notice given to those who erected structures without government’s approval had expired.
“The structures were marked since April 2022, and all developers and building owners were served notice to remove such illegal structures,” Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Christian Aburime, said.
Soludo, who regretted the manhandling of the popular cleric, said that the law enforcement team had been cautioned and asked to be more civil in carrying out their activities.
He said that it was never the intention of the government to harass or molest any resident of the state during the ongoing demolition exercise in the state.
The governor, however, stated that defaulters would pay government for removing the illegal structures for them.
Our investigation showed that several churches in Onitsha have been affected by the demolition exercise.
The entire stretch of Boundary Avenue, Housing Estate, Fegge which is a spur road to the Onitsha–Asaba Expressway on one side and the famous Port Harcourt Road, Onitsha, can be described as Mission Road in the commercial city.
Located on that road are four churches with large congregations; they include Queen of Peace Catholic Church built facing the expressway with modern architectural designs and all marbled walls including an imposing entrance gate on both sides.
Close to the Catholic Church is a thriving private school, then, Salvation Army church, Anambra West Territorial headquarters with a resident bishop.
Immediately after the Salvation Army is Four Square Gospel Church, Anambra headquarters, followed by another church popularly known as Yahweh Assembly. There is also The Presbyterian Church at the Port Harcourt Road end of the street.
But when the bulldozers visited there recently, there was no looking back as all their walls and fences from the beginning of the road to end were pulled down.
The imposing entrance gate of the Catholic Church was reduced to rubble even as the heap became another big blockade on the road.
The other churches and the school whose fences were pulled down have been left porous to security challenges even as flood kept on surging into the compounds while it rained.
The road in the area is also in a deplorable state, so, vehicles and other road users literally swim through the area.
Parish Priest of Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Housing Estate, Fegge, Rev. Father Basil Okelu told Sunday Sun that the Catholic Church in Onitsha Archdiocese under the leadership of Archbishop Valerian Okeke recognised the fact that the government is the chief regulator of the society and, therefore, enacts certain regulations for the order and development of the society.
“Archbishop Valerian was aware of the planned demolition exercise and gave us directive to support the government and we complied accordingly. Government did not say that we stepped beyond our boundaries, but it rather said our perimeter fencing will be removed so as to give way for the reclaiming of the Sakamori pit which has been filled up many years before we started building. So, those saying that we defied government directive by building illegally are talking out of ignorance,” Fr. Okelu said.
The priest said that people were expectant that Soludo will carry out the project to a logical conclusion and also repair the Boundary Avenue road which is in a very terrible state presently.
He said: “We are hopeful that the gutters and drainage will be repaired so that people in those areas, including the church and schools affected can resume their normal lives again. Also, as gutters are being repaired so we need the roads repaired too. We don’t move in that road again owing to its bad condition. We now go long distance up to Premier Road to connect the Port Harcourt Road; so, we are expecting government intervention.”
The Salvation Army headquarters in the area was hit badly in the demolition exercise because they were neck-deep in construction works in the area preparatory to their cathedral dedication event coming up in few weeks. They had just finished the perimeter fencing and fixed a new gate in the structure when the demolition team came calling.
Divisional Commander (Bishop) in charge of the church, Major John Okpalaihedi confirmed that some churches in the area including them, overstepped their boundaries when fixing their perimeter fencing and so they could not have challenged the government’s action.
He said rebuilding the fence will cost the church several millions of naira, but they are not blaming the government in any way.
“This area has been a swampy area and the church has spent millions of naira in putting up any structure because you have to do lots of reinforcement, but now that it has been pulled down, we have to spend more to rebuild when the government gives us the approval guidelines.
“We are not blaming the government for their action, but what we are saying is let it not be another abandoned project. We don’t want a repeat of what happened in Imo State during the time of a former governor where structures were pulled down but no reconstruction of roads eventually took place until the man left office,” he said.
The State Pastor in charge of Four Square Gospel Church, Rev. Chukwuka Ekeoma said though they have suffered major loss in the demolition, every reasonable person in the state should support Governor Soludo in his efforts to make Anambra State better.
He said: “For the church and government, we have the same motive for a better society. If the drainage is to flow and flooding will be reduced, then we are in for it. But our only concern is if the drainage is blocked, somebody allocated those lands for those who built there in the first place, so those people should not be overlooked.”
Rev. Ekeoma also appealed to the government to be fully committed in the project so as to drive it to completion because according to him, the flooding in the area is horrendous.
He also said that government should not make the church bear further financial burden for the operation.
“If you leave it this way, it’s going to be worse. If there are houses, churches, perimeter fencing that are blocking the way, it can go down. But my appeal now is that he should not surcharge churches again for the ones that have been brought down. When you smack a child with injuries, you don’t use crude oil again on the body but rather use petroleum jelly that can soothe the pain,” Ekeoma appealed.
He appealed to the government for an increased security presence in the area since they do not have any cover again.
“I only plead, let the action have a human face. If there could be extra police patrol in this area now, it will give us a sense of belonging because everywhere is so open now in this place.”
As the taskforce continued its operation in Onitsha metropolis last Monday, it encountered two coffins and various charms allegedly attached to a piece of land. Surprisingly, the team went on with its duties undeterred.
The incident occurred at a fenced land situated near the Governor’s Lodge in Onitsha, said to belong to an unidentified lawyer.
A source in the area told Sunday Sun that the Monday exercise was the fifth time the state government would be demolishing structures on the land.
The source said: “The lawyer is claiming that the land belongs to his family having reverted to the family after a 100-year lease agreement with the Federal Government.”
It was gathered that since the last demolition of the fence around the property earlier in the year, the lawyer went ahead to build on the land and allegedly placed two coffins and charms at strategic places to scare the taskforce from the land.
However, the government team defied all that, pulled down the structures erected on the land and also destroyed the coffins and charms.
Chairman, Anambra State Physical Planning Board, Chike Maduekwe, vowed that no amount of “intimidation” would make the state government not to reclaim the land which he said was designated for judges’ quarters.
Maduekwe said that the state government had started developing the site, wondering why the lawyer, whom he described as an “interloper”, would continue to trespass on it.
“We have the directive to arrest him and prosecute him if he ever trespasses on this land again. Anambra State government can no longer tolerate this kind of impunity and will ensure that any interloper is prosecuted.
“The government of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo believes in the rule of law and will not allow people to have their way with this kind of unlawful activities,” he stated.
In Awka, there appears to be a culture of people erecting houses, business premises, factories and others at any location of their choices without first obtaining government’s approval from the Awka Capital Territory Development Agency (ACTDA).
This observation is validated by the fact that any time a new building begins to spring up in the state capital, it does not take long before the officials of the ACTDA mark the new structure with red, cautioning the owner to stop work.
But again, it does not take long before workers return to the site to resume work, suggesting that the builder has settled with the concerned authority.
In some other cases, the owner of the new structure ignores the instruction issued by the agency and builds to completion.
When Sunday Sun visited the ACTDA office, the Chairman of the organisation was not on seat. But one of the staff, who wished not to be named explained that the agency had been carrying out its duties very well.
He, however, clarified that the demolition by the new administration was not new as the agency had been doing that in the state capital.
Regardless, our finding was that residents of Awka are ready to receive Soludo’s bulldozers. Many respondents said that they have been yearning for the implementation of the Master Plan for Awka Capital Territory.
Successive administrations in the state, particularly from 1999, have for reasons not quite clear, abandoned the state capital to rot.
The poor face of the state capital appears worse in Awka North where government has totally abandoned.
An indigene of Awka, Paulson Okeke, told Sunday Sun that he was sad with the state of the capital city, saying that the residents would receive Soludo and his caterpillars with open arms.
“There is a need for the enforcement of urban renewal because a city cannot grow with illegal structures, shanties and all whatnots. So, there should be urban renewals.
“There are development of structures going on in Awka, unplanned; scattered. It is not how to build a modern city. By now, Awka should be a modern city because in 1991 when the state was created, there was this grand plan that Awka should be a modern city where other cities will come to and emulate what is called planning.
“This is because it is Anambra people that developed most of these modern cities we have in Nigeria. In Abuja, for instance, Anambra people have at least 30 per cent of the modern buildings in Abuja. In Lagos, it is the same.
“So, they have contributed immensely towards developing modern cities everywhere in Nigeria. So, in Anambra, our own will not be different. But unfortunately, government went to sleep.
“There was no developmental effort whatsoever. Developments were left in the hands of the individuals. And the individuals have to develop in their pace and with their standard,” Okeke said.
Reacting to the impending demolition exercise in Nnewi, an estate surveyor and valuer in the town, Eloka Ikeh, said that the industrial community before now agreed that people should not build on waterways.
He noted that anybody building on the drainage was taking a big risk of causing flood disaster which he said the community had tried to avoid.
Ikeh who is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Nnewi North State Constituency for the 2023 election contended that it was a welcome development if the state government under Soludo had decided to pull down some buildings and structures to bring Nnewi back to shape as an urban area.
He said that government should be encouraged to carry out the exercise once and for all, adding there was no need to wait or postpone the evil day, according to him.
On Nnewi urban planning, Ikeh noted that there was no time you planned a city that would be too late.
He said: “It is better you start now; not just planning but executing the one already done by government. If nothing is done now, in the nearest future you, will find it difficult to move around in Nnewi.
“Nnewi needs to have dualized road, double lane. If you want to plan for future and you don’t do it now, when are you going to do it? If anybody has an approved plan for a building, government has to pay compensation to the owner.”
He noted that former Governor Willie Obiano did not do it probably because it was not among the priorities of his administration.
For the member representing Nnewi North in Anambra State House of Assembly, Nonso Okafor, anybody building on waterway in Nnewi is causing environmental danger to the lives of thousands in the town.
He explained that compensation might only be possible where someone’s building with due government approval was demolished.
