Residents, businesses groan as Enugu demolishes houses, farms

Hundreds of residents of Nchatancha Nike community in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State have been left without shelter as the state government has demolished their houses.

Some of the residents, with new born babies, were equally thrown out without allowing them to take out any of their belongings.

While the government claimed that the land the residents built their houses on was acquired by the state under previous administration of former Governor Sullivan Chime, some residents had lived in their property even before the emergency of Sullivan Chime as governor.

And while the state government claimed it acquired over 5,000 hectares, the Nchatancha Nike community has debunked the claims, averring that the state government under Chime was given 450 hectares or 5,000 plots of land and had yet to pay compensations to the community.

One of numerous residents whose property was demolished was Mrs Ngozi Dede, who claimed that while one of her property was marked and duly issued eviction notice, her multi-million naira poultry and fish farm, located far from where the government had pegged as boundary of its acquired land, was demolished, with 18,000 birds and 5,000 grown-up fishes destroyed without notice.

The recent government demolitions started with over 200 houses, including multi-million naira hotels in Obeagu and Amechi Awkunanaw, which were tagged as ‘kidnappers’ dens,’ probably as an alibi to justify the unjustifiable demolition.

Demolition of houses and farms at the Nchatancha Nike community started on penultimate Tuesday and when South-East According correspondent visited the scene over the weekend, it was a horrible scene to behold, considering the state of Nigeria’s economic challenges.

Speaking with South-East According, Mrs Dede, Enugu-born but married to Abia State, described the demolition of farms as horrible and man’s inhumanity to man, wondering how a government lobbying investors to come to Enugu State to invest would be so callous to destroy existing investment without legal and due process.

Lamenting her loss, Mrs Dede, who is currently battling to save the life of her husband at a private hospital in the state, said, “I learnt that they (the government) are demolishing some places. Nobody told me that my farm was marked; even the people working here said that the farm was not marked or issued eviction notices. I acquired and built this farm legally. I pay taxes in millions of naira to the government.

“My workers and other neighbours showed me an area that was marked with beacons. All of a sudden I was called that one man; a commissioner, came and said that my farm should be included. My workers were shouting that this area was not marked, but the caterpillar went in and started demolishing the farm. No notice to vacate. So, as they were demolishing, I came in, I saw them and I was stopping them. I pleaded that they should give me one day to pack the birds but they refused and demolished everything.

“I have 10,000 hens laying eggs. I harvest 300 crates of eggs every day from this farm. I have 6,000 pullets that I bought that are about three to four months old; I have 2,000 broilers that I was supposed to sell this Easter; 5,000 grown-up fish and 2,000 fingerlings, all of which were destroyed. I felt so bad that such a thing could be happening in Nigeria today. The government is there for the people and not the other way.

“I know when development is coming in, you tell people, and you give notice. People like me did not collect any notice; I didn’t even know that they were doing anything. I have not been around and I have been calling my farm that I heard that they are working at St David road. I didn’t know they had included my farm.”

She informed that she bought the land in 2017 and completed the farm in September 2017, adding, “Meanwhile, they did not mark here. When you go front, you see where they put beacons and red ribbon. Even yesterday while I was here I met some people, I even saw the chairman of Capital Territory and told him that I heard that my farm was not marked and no eviction notice was issued to my farm, then why the demolition, and he told me, ‘Madam, it is from the authority.’

“Even a woman working for me with the husband, she was sleeping with her baby at the boys’ quarter, when they started the demolition. She didn’t know that anything was happening. It was the people that were shouting before she came out with her baby, otherwise they would have killed the woman and the baby in their sheer wickedness. So, I’m so surprised to see this kind of wickedness because they didn’t give me any notice. If they had given me notice at least, I would have saved the lives of the birds if not for any other thing.”

Describing the demolition as bad, Mrs Dede said, “We all know about development, if government come and said it needs an area they should give people notice and give time. When the people do not comply you can go ahead and do whatever you want to do.

“Everybody in Nigeria knows the hardship in the country. I am just controlling myself; I couldn’t even sleep last night. I am just controlling my temper; I don’t even know what to say.”

On the cost of what she lost, she said, “Like now, when you have a day old chicken, ask anybody, it is N950, let alone the birds that are laying eggs for a year now. I can’t even quantify the millions of naira I lost here off-head. Because having 10,000 birds, anybody that is into farming business will tell you how much. Just two weeks ago, I made feeds here that cost N3 million, just for my layers, not even for the broilers. The new pullets I bought at N600 each and 6000 of them. I have been feeding them for three months now. I can’t even quantify what I lost here.”

Another victim of the demolition, Mr Oha Uchenna Samson, whose property was viciously damaged, said his wife with two-month-old baby narrowly escaped death, as she was sleeping when the bulldozer came calling.

He lamented that not a single pin was removed from his massive bungalow and a piggery farm, despite that the properties were not issued eviction notice or even marked.

He said, “There’s nothing like demand notice, they dragged my wife with a newborn baby out of my house and demolished everything, including the baby’s belongings. My house was built in 2013, and the government did not give me any eviction notice. I am not opposing any development, but I think there’s a process to take over somebody’s property.

“I have a property that they marked for demolition and I religiously picked my things out of the property. Governor Peter Mbah ruined my life and that of my entire family with the innocent baby that was born barely two months ago, because I am not from Enugu State. Where do I start from? This is the height of evil. My house was not marked for demolition, and there was no eviction notice, why would the state government, led by the Commissioner for Lands, order the demolition of the house while my family was inside, and my piggery farm with 45 grown-up piggies killed?

“I was busy helping people pack out their things in the areas where the government marked, when I was called to come that they were demolishing my house. My wife with the new baby knelt begging, to at least allow us remove our things, but the commissioner and the Director of Capital Territory used police and soldiers to push them down. They demolished the house with all our properties, including the baby’s wears. Nothing, I mean nothing, was removed from the house. They captured the people they marked their property for demolition, but I was not.”

Asked when he bought the land, he said, “I bought this land in January 2012, and developed it in 2013 and now they have demolished everything, including my farm, and killed over 45 piggies. There’s no information, our houses were not marked and we were not issued any eviction notice. The government has put beacons in the areas it said it had acquired from the community, why then demolish my house? This is injustice.

“Nobody carries land around. I bought the land from the family that owned it legitimately. This place is not part of what the government acquired from the community. If you want to take over my property, why not notify me? Where do you want me to go with my children and newborn baby? I know I have no power of my own, but there’s God. If what they have done is good, let those who authorised it go free but if there’s an injustice, let God who sees everything reward them according to their deeds.”

Another victim, Mr Emmanuel Chukwu, a native of Anambra State, lamented the demolition of his house, noting that he is still traumatized by the shock of the demolition.

He said, “I am from Anambra State. I bought the land in 2023 and built a bungalow. I moved in with my family to the house in April last year. This year, we started hearing that the government and indigenes of the community are having issues over their farmland, where their crops are being destroyed without paying them compensations. The place is far away from this place. But after the government claimed that their workers were attacked and caterpillar burnt, the government, in its reaction decided to take over our properties.

“They gave us notice on February 26 and less than 12 hours; they came with caterpillar and demolished my house. The governor, Peter Mbah supervised it. I lost over N60 million. I have little children with my wife, where does the government want us to go and stay? House rent in Enugu is from N700,000 to N1.5 million. They have demolished all my property, so how do I start life again. No compensation. This is evil, no matter how you look at it. Is it not people that they are going to sell the houses that they are building to? Why demolish our own?”

Like others, Engr Ogbonna Augustine, was not spared in the demolition spree, lamenting that the worse is that he had no place to lay his head with his five children and wife.

He said, “I have been living in my house for over five years now with my family. I bought the land in 2015 from the family that owns the land, not even from the community, because it is a family land. I bought the land from Umu-Okeani family in Nchatancha Nike, surveyed and registered it in the Ministry of Lands.

“The land was not encumbered when I bought it. I made proper search in the Ministry of Lands before buying the land. The family did not tell me that government acquired it, even when I made personal inquiry from the traditional ruler of the community.

“Unfortunately, I was with my family on 26th of February when officials of the state government came in the afternoon and gave me notice to vacate my house within 24 hours. No reason was given.

“On 27th February, the governor came in the morning and the next I saw were bulldozers bringing down to my house. Within 10 minutes, after using police and soldiers to chase my family out, they demolished the property. No information. No reason. The property was registered with the government. I bought the land in 2015 and I have my documents. I am living in the house with my wife, five children and two tenants with children each. We are 21 in number living in the house and they pursued all of us out and demolished it. Where are we going to stay? No compensation. There are rules governing land acquisition.”

Meanwhile, the state government on February 19 claimed that no house was demolished, blaming “land grabbers for creating problems.”

A statement from the Governor’s Office had faulted claims of demolitions and forceful ejections of residents of Nchatancha Nike by the ongoing construction of New Enugu City, a smart city, which was flagged off by Governor Mbah in October, 2023

The statement blamed series of protests against the demolition on land grabbers in the community, who sell portions of the already acquired and gazetted lands to unsuspected buyers, saying that some culprits were already in custody.

It said that although affected communities were already served notice years ago, when the land acquisitions began by previous administrations, Mbah’s administration was approaching the mega project with a human face by ensuring that compensations and proper relocations were done before any demolition.

Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, made the clarifications during a site visit to Nchatancha Nike, where a bulldozer was attacked.

He vowed that the government would not be deterred from actualising the first phase of the New City in 24 months, as already agreed with the China Communication Construction Company, in October.

Onyia said the governor, who already had series of conversations and buy-in of the communities ahead and in the course of the project had ordered the contractors to begin a 24-hour construction work.

He said, “What we have discovered was that a few of community members, in noticing how bullish the governor is in building this New Enugu City, embarked on selling the lands to unsuspecting individuals, knowing that those buyers, not them, will now have to contend with the government.

“But I think we need to step back and answer the questions on when this process started. The first acquisition process started long before this government came,” but he didn’t disclose the date and year.

Onyia added, “People have been served notice many years ago that there would be a day like this when a government would decide that it is now time to actualise the promise to build a new city.

“But in doing that, what the governor decided would happen first is to clear the first 1,000 hectares. There are no homes here, as you can see. A few of the marked items you saw at the entrance belong to federal institutions.

“To make sure that no one was left without proper compensation, the governor constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee, which I chaired. We have also put out an announcement. So far, nobody has submitted anything, because we are not even at that stage of demolishing anything yet. If you look around, all you see are farmlands. There is no building here, just a bush.”