In its bid to restore the aesthetic value and master plan of Abakaliki Capital City, the ministry of Capital City and Urban Development, on Wednesday, demolished over 30 illegally constructed shops and containers mounted in unauthorized areas within the metropolis.
Speaking during the demolition exercise at Central Park axis, Ochudo Centenary city, the Commissioner for Capital City Development, Chief Sunday Inyima, said that the owners of the illegal structures were properly notified before the action was taken.
The Commissioner noted further that the demolished structures were built on a place designated as service lane and built without any approval from the ministry, hence the need to remove them.
Inyima said, “this place you’re seeing is a service lane and people started building shops here and we feel it’s not normal.
“Opposite here, you can see the international market where people can do their business, so this is not acceptable to the Government.
“From our records, the owners did not secure any approval from the ministry of Capital City.
“In August 2023, we issued them ‘stop work and removal notice’ but as you can see, they couldn’t remove it and that is why we are here to help remove it.
“Bearing the cost of the removal, well in the interim, we want to sanitize the city. The capital City ministry, of course, is bearing the cost of the removal, but we will further go into it and know who pays the final cost.”
On whether the owners of the property were known to the Government, the Commissioner said:
“The owners are known and some of them are not known. I don’t know all the owners but some people called when we wrote this thing and we actually told them that this is not proper that they should remove it, but to our greatest shock, the structures are still here, that’s why we’re here today, after a warning and notice we gave in August 2023.£
He called on intending developers to ensure they get approval from the ministry before erecting structures to avoid being demolished.
“We have posted announcements on various media platforms, including social media. Ebonyi state has come of age.
“We want to look like other cities you can think of across the country, that is why we started with the removal of shanties, batchers and containers.
“We are going further on that because our announcement is still ongoing on radio and then you can see this.
“We’ll also enter into areas where we have people who build on water ways, blocking water and drainage ways for other people and then causing havoc for other inhabitants of the city,” he stated.