Petty business owners on Saturday lost goods and properties worth millions of naira as the Imo State Government through the Development Control Agency, Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) on Saturday commenced the demolition of Shanties along Orlu road, Owerri.
Monitoring the demolition action, the Special Adviser to the Governor and General Manager of Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) Engr. Francis Chukwu said that Government took the drastic action as a result of the fact that the Shanties were erected on top of underground drainage channels.
He added that it was also in furtherance of Government’s enforcement of the operation reclaim Owerri Capital City from Shanties and Street Trading, recalling that the State Government through OCDA had since December, 2021 notified those concerned about its plan of action before the demolition exercise commenced.
According to him, the action equally became imperative given the fact that the increasing rate of Shanties has defaced the State Capital and Government can no longer watch the Development without taking the necessary actions in order to checkmate the ugly trend.
Engr. Francis Chukwu disclosed that the demolition action was designed to clear the Shanties from Rapour Junction Orlu road to Nworie river, maintaining that it will give the State Capital the needed facelift in the area.
However, business owners lamented that they were not given adequate time to relocate their goods and properties.
They urged the government to compensate them in order to move on with their lives, adding that they had nowhere to go.
