BY : DARI KWABENA MATHEW (+233552376423)
Some residents and shop owners in Awka, Anambra State capital, were thrown into wailing and weeping moods, as Anambra State Government resumed demolition exercise in the area, barely four days after the last lap of the 2023 General Election.
Starting on Wednesday, the demolition exercise, which has continued to date, is being carried out by the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA). The exercise affects over two hundred shops, hotels, and residential apartments, located along Oby Okoli Avenue, which stretches from UNIZIK Temporary Site Junction to across Okpuno village in Awka. ATM facilities, churches, and some other marked structures in the area were also not spared.
It was gathered that the structures were earlier marked for demolition by the ACTDA, which gave their owners seven days to remove them (before January 25, 2023) or have them crushed to rubbles by the Authority.
However, given a public outcry and series of media publications on the planned demolition and the shortness of the notice, the Authority suspended the exercise and gave a ‘grace period’ of barely one month.
Although, some of the affected residents and shop owners had already dismantled, relocated, or evacuated some of their facilities and wares ahead of the expiration of the first deadline to avoid incurring much loss.
To some others, the second extension was a sort of relief, as they were yet to move a single pin from their shops in preparation for the appointed day.
It was, however, surprising to many of the shop owners and the residents as the officials of the ACTDA were nowhere to be found to start the demolition (as expected) when the second deadline elapsed on February 24. It was understood, by many, to mean that the Authority had suspended the planned demolition because of General Election, which kicked off on February 25. The election period apparently tarried till March 18, when the last lap of it, the House of Assembly Election was held.
Be it as it may, the residents and the shop owners were taken by surprise when, barely four days after the elections, the officials of the Authority stormed the area with a heavy-duty caterpillar and started crushing down some structures in the area. This forced others whose structures were also marked to start hastening up and calling for assistance to evacuate their wares before the demolition could get to their turns. The rush helped minimize losses for some, while some were not fortunate enough to take out a single ware from their shops before it got to their shops.
Currently, over 80 shops, residential houses and other structures have so far been demolished in the area, with many victims still struggling to rescue their trapped wares, while metal scrap dealers count it lucky as they feast on the metal scraps from the demolished structures.
