The Enugu State Government has spoken on the reported demolition of some properties in Centenary Estate in Enugu State.
The estate, popularly known as the Centenary City, is located on a large expanse of land belonging to Obeagu Awkunanaw and some families in Amechi Uwani, a neighbouring community in Enugu South Local Government Area of the state.
It was, however, said to have been acquired by an estate developer, Private Estates International West Africa during the administration of a former governor of the state, Sullivan Chime.
A popular Nigerian skit maker, Chibuike Ugwu, otherwise known as Untouchable had, on 19 January in a video clip, raised an alarm that his mansion was on the verge of being demolished by the state’s urban development agency, the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority.
In the five-minute clip which has gone viral on social media, Mr Ugwu appealed to Nigerians to help him prevail on Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State not to demolish his property.
The skit maker said he was not involved in any fraud and that he built the property through his hard work, adding that he has all the documents to show that the property was approved.
He said he returned from Lagos State, Nigeria’s south-west and observed that his building in the estate had been marked for possible demolition with an instruction to him to remove the structure.
The clip showed that the building was marked for demolition by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority on 12 January.
It also showed many other buildings in the estate which were demolished by the agency.
Reacting, The Enugu State Government denied demolishing any building in the estate, saying the originators of the video clip tried to de-market the state for investment.
The State Commissioner for Information, Aka Eze Aka, and the Chairperson of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, Uche Anya, debunked the allegation on Saturday when they conducted reporters around some demolished buildings in the estate, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
They explained that the affected buildings were demolished because they served as kidnappers’ hideout, stressing that it was yet to demolish any of the unapproved structures in the area.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
