•Iwuanyanwu
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has called on federal government, through the Housing Authority (FHA) and other agencies involved in demolition exercise at Abule-Ado in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos State, to pay compensation to the victims.
The area where the demolition exercises were carried out was dominated by people of South East extraction, reports Daily Sun.
Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, when he took an inspection tour of the demolished property, Iwuanyanwu said although land in country is vested in the government and it could repossess any for the construction of infrastructure in overriding public interest, the owners of the property repossessed should be well compensated.
He wondered why the government did not mark the buildings demolished as illegal structures while they were under construction and noted that it was an act of bad faith for those involved to wait for the structures to be completed before demolishing them.
He noted that the Igbo landlords in the affected areas bought the land from the original and indigenous owners and were issued receipts thus, the government should have given them due consideration and compensation before the demolition.
He noted that the purpose of government is the security and welfare of the citizenry, and that government should not have thrown the property owners into hardship and misery.
“Some of these people have invested all they have in those property, some children went to school in the morning only to come back in the evening to discover that they are homeless”, he said.
Iwuanyanwu said there is no rift between the Yoruba and the Igbo, adding that it is a handful of mischief makers who want to take advantage of the differences among the people to create crises for their personal gain.
Also speaking, Chief Nwafuribe Chukwudiegwu, the chairman of Igbo Residents’ Association, Abule-Ado, said that the residents were not given adequate notice before the houses were brought down. He also disclosed that most of the house owners were in discussions with the authorities before the houses were pulled down.
He condemned the use of thugs and policemen to harass the residents of the area.
