AKANU IBIAM INT. AIRPORT REHABILITATION: Ukwuorji Community Groan In Anguish

Reporter: CHRISTIAN NWANGENE

The Enugu State Government has demolished over one hundred houses in Ukwuorji, a Community near Akanu Ibiam International Airport Emene, Enugu.  Also demolished is the popular Orie Emene market.

The areas said to be encroaching on the airport land were demolished by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA, led by its Chairman, Mr. Joseph Umunnakwe Onoh, to give way for the construction of perimeter fencing. The occupants of Ukwuorji community wept uncontrollably as they watched hopelessly their belongings being smashed to pieces by the officials of the ECTDA.

The atmosphere at the scene was that of despair, anguish, lamentations and wailing. The demolition began from Ukwuorji Community a shantie near the airport, to Orie Emene where no single block was left standing.

What used to be a very busy sight, has become a ghost ground. Some landlords, including Pastor Sunday Okenwa, and Mrs. Odinaka Chinago, who had lived in the community for years, said Government officials came last year to mark their buildings for demolition, but failed to explain to them the reason for their action.

According to them, they reported the matter to the authorities of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, whom they claimed collected rent from them, but were advised by the Corporation not to vacate the property. However to their surprise, they woke up on the fatefull day to see that bulldozers and a combined team of security men had stormed the area and began demolishing their property.

The residents appealed to the State and Federal Governments to provide an alternative accommodation or pay them compensation.  Reacting to the development, the District Manager, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Eastern District, Enugu, Mr. Osidipe Olusoji, expressed disappointment over the demolition, emphasing that the land in question belonged the Nigeria Railway Corporation.

He said Ukwuorji Community in Emene, Enugu did not in any way whatsoever, obstruct the airport rehabilitation or close to the airport facility. The District Manager called on stakeholders from Southeast to prevail on the Chairman of ECTDA, Mr. Josef Onoh, not to deny the people of the zone, the long awaited upgrade of railway facilities in the South-East.

Reacting, the Commissioner for Information, Enugu State, Mr. Chidi Aroh explained that the State Government had no intention to acquire any land, rather working hard to ensure that the area was safe for navigational activities.  The Commissioner also maintained that the State Government was not by any means trying to frustrate the extension of the standard gauge railway to the zone, but acting in compliance with the agreement of the Southeast Governors, the State and the Federal Governments.

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