‘They’re kidnappers’ hideouts’ — Enugu speaks on demolition of buildings in Centenary city

The Enugu government has refuted allegations of indiscriminate demolition of properties at Centenary City in Obeagu/Amechi Akwunanaw in Enugu south LGA.

In a trending online video, a man was seen appealing to Peter Mbah, the state governor, to help the landlords and prevent further demolition of people’s investment.

The man in the video said he bought the land while the necessary documents were given to him and wondered why his building would be marked for demolition.

Speaking with journalists on Saturday, Aka Eze Aka, the state commissioner for information, said the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) only demolished illegal and uncompleted structures.

“In this instance, you are all aware of the distance we travelled from the city to get to this place. The culprits did not only erect the structures without any title and approval, they got inside this place pretending to be a block industry. Whereas as you can see, they were into nefarious activities,” he said.

“When the person, who was on the video began to talk about trying to destroy his house and so on, it is important to state that not one single building that has been earmarked for demolition was touched because we also have a human feeling to allow these houses for them to be regularised.

“They just went about to recycle old videos where some properties were destroyed by past administrations. It is also funny that the young man has been brandishing a mere Deed, which cannot be an approval to build.”

‘HIDEOUT FOR KIDNAPPERS’

Uche Anya, the ECTDA chairman, said the agency would not “succumb to blackmail, including recycling and trending of videos of past demolitions.”

“It is apposite to state that the action of the ECTDA in Centenary City is Rule of Law at work. The ECTDA Law prohibits carrying out any development or municipal service within the Capital Territory,” he said.

“We took the initiative to mark the affected properties in October 2023, issuing notices that should accord the developers a window to regularise their titles/properties, if any.

“For emphasis, even though the notices had since expired, no unapproved but completed or occupied building was demolished during the exercise by ECTDA. We are still calling on the developers to do the right thing.

“Meanwhile, it is to be made clear that the ECTDA operation of Friday, January 19, was based on an intelligence report about an illegal development/property that served as kidnappers’ den at the Centenary City.

“In the course of our due diligence, we also found out that the property, like many others at Centenary City, had no title or approval from the appropriate authorities.

“Although the building was not fully completed, the criminals had already mounted sophisticated surveillance equipment such as CCTV cameras, PTZ cameras, in addition to about two dozens of mobile phones denoting the dangerous level of sophistication.”