•Outlet causing noise pollution, parades fake approval –ECTDA
From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Owners of Breathe Restaurant and Lounge, a top class leisure centre in Enugu, Enugu State, have cried to Governor Peter Mbah to save them from the impunity of one of his appointees who allegedly vowed to destroy their business.
Ikechukwu Okeke and Chef Kelly, who jointly opened the hospitality business in Independence Layout Enugu, July last year, alleged that the Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA), Chief Uche Anya, has deployed every imaginable antic to frustrate them.
Okeke and Kelly said their only offence was that they located the business near the development controller’s residence and on a plot of land that he had reportedly expressed interest in but could not acquire from the owner.
The duo alleged that Anya had wielded his powers and shut their business premises on two occasions even when they did not run foul the law.
As if that was not enough, they also showed newsmen some electronic gadgets mounted by Anya, including CCTV cameras which he uses to monitor their premises and alarms that he allegedly triggers to scare customers there.
“The Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) under Ken Onoh gave us approval. Onoh encouraged us and told us it was what Enugu needed at the moment. We paid and approval was given to us and we went ahead to build and we opened for business on July 14, 2023. People like here and they come because we don’t play loud music, they say our place is for mature minds.
“One day some people came and said they were friends to the new capital territory boss and that he is our neighbour, just behind our property. We went to pay him homage as our neighbour and when we told him we were the ones behind his house, he said are you the ones disturbing me, that we should know that in 1999, he wanted to buy that place but that the family refused to sell to him. I told him that we didn’t buy the property but that we’re on a-20-year lease on the property and he said it was not his problem; that he was just waiting on the neighbours to report to him before he will be able to shut us down, that we should know that the place will not exist.
“So, I said sir, you can’t tell me that the business I came down from Lagos to invest over N500 million will not work. He said he had finished what he was saying but that this place will not exist. He said we should take our drink and go and we left. That was on Tuesday and on Saturday, early morning, without notice, he came and sealed this property. We had a lot of livestock that died within the 15 days that he sealed it. He made us swear an affidavit that we should not play any music at all.
“One day, some people came here and laughed and my phone rang, it was his (capital territory) architect who told me that his oga said that those people laughing there should stop laughing. I removed all the speakers close to his fence. Within five days, he served us another paper because people were laughing. Two days later, he came and sealed it again. He said that even the governor cannot do anything, that after all, he has houses in America, Ikoyi and Enugu, that he is here to help the governor; that he didn’t ask for this job. I have over 60 workers employed here, their jobs are on the line and our investment is dying,” Okeke lamented.
He regretted that the intervention of the Secretary to Enugu State Government (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, had not yielded the expected result as the ECTDA boss was still tormenting them.
He disclosed that the last time the alarm disrupted their business, two children who were there with their parents almost lost their hearing.
Okeke said that the company has spent at least N300,000 in providing medical treatment to the two kids.
He further said: “In January, I noticed that there were cameras and about five alarms lined up at the edge of Uche Anya’s house facing directly to this lounge. So now, each time he sees that people are here, he releases deafening alarms throwing customers out of this place. Right now, I pay the medical bills of two children that have been deafened by these alarms. The alarms have damaged the hearing of these two little children that only came here to relax with their parents. The police came here and witnessed the alarm and they were pissed off. He told the police that I should do the right thing.
“I know that Gov. Peter Mbah is not aware of all these but Uche Anya is one of the people demarketing his administration. He is just busy shutting down businesses in Enugu. The SSG told him that he was supposed to encourage us. The governor lives close to an outdoor centre but he has not shut down that entertainment centre.
“My prayer is for the governor to intervene on this issue. I have a lot of positive business ideas I want to put up in Enugu and the governor has been going out asking for investments into the state. I plead with the governor to come to my aid and save me from Uche Anya who has crippled my business.”
Daily Sun contacted Anya about the allegations and he denied pursuing a vendetta against the leisure centre owners. Rather, he accused them of making life unbearable for the residents of neighbourhood, saying that that it was the neighbourhood association that decided and installed the gadgets in a bid to curb the nuisance caused by the leisure spot.
The ECTDA had threatened to clamp down on nightclubs, lounges and bars causing nuisance especially noise pollution in residential areas of Enugu metropolis.
During a town hall meeting with about 75 leisure spot owners on December 1, last year, Anya said that the Mbah-led administration was desirous about providing conducive environment for the leisure and entertainment business to thrive but warned that it would not be to the detriment of residents.
Anya further said that the most fundamental issue was that the approval or permit for the business has been withdrawn because, according to him, it was fraudulently procured.
He alleged that the businessmen used the Certificate of Occupancy of a property in the Government Reserved Area to develop the structure in Independence Layout, Enugu.
The ECTDA boss described those in such business as powerful because they have money and connections, he, however, insisted that the business would not be allowed to continue to operate in the area.
“When you go there, you will see what they have built there; they have built on top of my fence, their structure is on top of my fence. They have built everywhere and their music starts from 4pm till 5am. The neighbourhood cannot sleep, as I talk with you, the entire neighbourhood has taken their case to the DSS, Commissioner of Police and everybody. Of course, you know that I can’t be part of it, though I am the one directly impacted. And nobody is helping us. You know these people are powerful, they have money, they have propaganda.
“So, we took a decision at the neighbourhood that we shall install a sound censor so that once their music goes beyond certain decibel, the censor will trigger off to warn them that they are making our lives miserable. That censor will never trigger off if they respect themselves and keep their music within the law.
“We don’t want to go deaf in our neighbourhood and we are having problem with our health; we can’t sleep at night.
“Finally, remember that the place is a residential neighbourhood. Also, they should have told you that their permit there has been withdrawn. They don’t have permit because they used the ‘C of O’ of GRA; that their approval is for a land in GRA, it’s not for that place they are. They no longer have approval; they’re illegal, illegitimate and they cannot be there.
“In our neighbourhood is a 91-year-old elder statesman and his wife is 88 years old. Nobody can sleep because some urchins said they must run a nightclub in our residential area and they refused to do acoustic. I held a meeting in my office and directed bar, nightclub and lounge operators in residential areas to do acoustic. And nobody is challenging them, everybody is treating them with kid gloves.
“They called the police and the police came into the matter. The police said they should not play music and we should turn off the censor until they finish investigation. Next thing, the police investigating officer called me and said that ‘this is a bar; they should be allowed to play low music.’ Meanwhile, the investigation hasn’t been allowed to be concluded. So, these people have money and we do not have money,” Anya stated.
He lamented that nobody was safe in Enugu if the house of the Chairman of the Capital Territory Development Authority could be allegedly invaded in such a manner by the lounge owners.
Chairman of Nnewi Crescent Neighbourhood Association, Independence Layout Enugu, confirmed that the installation of the sound censor was a collective decision of the group.
He disclosed that they had complained to the government about the noise emanating from the place in August last year, even before a resident of the area became the development control boss.