By Praise Chinecherem
Anambra state government task force, comprising the security personnel and officials of relevant agencies Monday, demolished illegal structures guarded with two coffins and charms at a property near the Governor’s Lodge, Onitsha.
Anambra Daily gathered that a lawyer, name withheld, reportedly placed the coffins and assorted charms on the property in a bid to scare the task force set up by Governor Chukwuma Soludo for the demolition of illegal structures.
A source told our correspondent that Monday’s exercise was the fifth time the government was demolishing structures on the land which the lawyer was laying claims. “The lawyer is claiming that the land belongs to his family having reverted to the family after a 100-year lease agreement with the Federal Government.
“According to the lawyer, the land in question is subject to a leasehold of 1910 and 1945 between the Federal Government and his family, which yielded back to the family a reversionary interest in 2009 and the Federal Government released the land to his family.
“He said the federal government released the first one on the 13th of July, 2013 and later released the other in 2019,” the source stated.
Anambra Daily further gathered that since the last demolition of the fence of the property earlier this year, the lawyer had gone ahead to build on the land and allegedly placed two coffins and charms at strategic places on the disputed property to scare the government team away from the land.
Speaking after the exercise, Chairman, Anambra State Physical Planning Board, Chike Maduekwe, who led the task force, said the land was designated for judges’ quarters, insisting that no amount of intimidation would make the state government not reclaim the land.
He wondered why the Onitsha lawyer, who he described as an interloper, would continue to trespass on the land, despite the government’s earlier clarification that the parcel of land was designated for judges’ quarters and had started developing the site.
Maduekwe said, “We have the directive to arrest him and prosecute him if he ever trespasses on this land again. Anambra State Government can no longer tolerate this kind of impunity and will ensure that any interloper is prosecuted.
“The government of Prof Chukwuma Soludo believes in the rule of law and will not allow people to have their way with this kind of unlawful activities.”
The government had about a week ago embarked on an aggressive clampdown on illegal structures in Onitsha and its environs.
