It was all crying and wailing in Utuh, Nnewi South Local Government Area, Anambra state as Utuh Development Union, UDU, reportedly embarked on demolition of buildings, shops sited at Orie market for the construction of a community model plaza without compensation to the owners, widows and artisans.
Crying while speaking to news men, one of the victims who is a widow, Mrs. Louisa Ndedigwe said, ’’this land belongs to my late husband and he built the shops there before he died.
“He even gave a portion of the land to the community when he was alive and now that he is dead they want to confiscate the land because it is in a high brow area.
They claim that Anambra state government wants to build plaza there”.
She said “it is from here that I fend for what my children will eat, it is a pure intimidation and I call on Governor Willie Obiano to come to my rescue”.
Contacted the President General of the Community, Chief Fabian Onwughalu said, “some families including that of Mrs. Ndedigwe donated the said land to the community from time immemorial and now the Government wants to build a plaza there”.
“The Ndedigwe family and the others approached the community then and pleaded to build some make-shift structures there to help them feed their families and that they will remove the structures when we are ready”.
“Now we have written them to inform them that the state government has selected the place to build a plaza and they refused”, he started.
In a swift reaction, a coalition of civil society groups led by its secretary, Comrade Charles Ejefonye warned that they would take legal action against the town union if they demolish the buildings/shops of the widow without compensation.
Reiterating the resolve of the human right body to protect the downtrodden, its scribe added that the group would not hesitate to also recover the said land for the owners.