By Kamsi Anayo, Awka
Commercial sex workers and other roadside traders operating along the Abakaliki Street in Awka, Anambra State and its environs, were, on Friday, thrown into discomfort, as the state government stormed the street with bulldozers to demolish the chalets and other shanties.
The demolition exercise which started at about 12.pm, was carried out by the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) amid tight security.
They comprisd heavily-armed local vigilante members, the police and members of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA Brigade).
Their presence helped to ensure smooth enforcement throughout the exercise.
Residents were also seen shrugging as they watched the exercise and sympathized with the victims who were lamenting and watching helplessly as their shops (containers and shanties) were being crushed.
Some of the shop owners in the area were also seen, rushing and evacuating some of the wares in their shops; while some benevolent individuals were seen assisting some of the victims to recover the remnants of their goods and properties from the demolished shops.
When contacted, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ACTDA, Amaechi Okwuosa, said the demolition exercise was in tandem with the state government’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property of the citizens.
He said it was also in consonance with the Authority’s primary mandate of giving the Awka Capital Territory a befitting outlook.
He explained that the shanties were constructed under the high tension cables, which is unhealthy, condemnable, and strictly prohibited by the law.
He noted that even government cannot build under the high tension cables.
Okwuosa stressed that apart from incidences of electrocutions and fires, the high tension lines emit signals that are dangerous to the human body.
According to him, the owners and occupants of those shanties were earlier served several warnings and given enough time to vacate the area before the demolition, but they ignored the notices.
He said, “We’ve been warning them for a very long time, posted notices there, telling them to leave, but they neglected that.
“We gave them the first 14-day ultimatum, gave them the second 14 days, gave them additional 7days, and gave them another complete one month.”
He further explained that the exercise will be sustained and extended to other areas, including Agu Awka, where they had carried out similar work before, to serve as deterrent to others.
He added that the government is not carrying out the exercise to hurt or cause hardship for the people but for their own good and safety.
Okwuosa advised those who are embarking on such unauthorized construction to desist from it, as the agency will not relent in delivering its mandate, both in terms of enforcement.
Some of the roadside traders whose shops were demolished, Mrs Ebere Igwe (a beer parlour owner) and Nancy Okafor (a food vendor) acknowledged that they were served several warnings earlier, but said the government took them by surprise and should have given them more time to get shops elsewhere.
On their own parts, a mechanic workshop owner in the area, Mr Obinna Nwafor; a barber shop owner, Mr Lucky Onuigbo, and a provision store owner, popularly known as Papa Ejima lamented that their shops were not under the high tension but were also demolished during the exercise.
They claimed that government of ex-Gov. Willie Obiano’s never touched their shops and other shops in their own area whenever it came to demolish shanties in the area throughout his eight years in office.
They wondered why the present administration of Gov. Chukwuma Soludo would do so.
They also said they were never served any notice or warning prior to the demolition.
Recall that Abakaliki Street is one of the most popular places noted for night life in the entire Awka capital city and its environs, hence government’s change of its name to Club Street in 2018.