Outrage as Anambra begins demolition for road expansion

The Anambra State Government has sparked widespread outrage following the demolition of structures along the Nnewi-Owerri Road as part of an ongoing road expansion project.

The operation, led by the state’s Physical and Building Control Agency, began on Wednesday in Nnewi, affecting hundreds of buildings, shops, and businesses, most notably a partial demolition of the head office of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing.

Videos from the scenes showed how the affected buildings were rendered useless while the owners were seen lamenting the loss.

The demolition exercise has, however, sparked off a chain of reactions and counter-reactions, both among the affected landlords, concerned authorities, and social media users.

While the affected persons insisted they were not properly notified, others accused the authorities of bias, alleging that the perimeter fence of a church (name withheld) was deliberately left out even though it was conspicuously blocking a drainage channel.

Speaking to our correspondent in Nnewi, on Friday, one of the affected landlords, Chief Emenike Gabriel, said, “We were not properly notified about this demolition. They did not carry out the exercise with due diligence.

“Some of these buildings have been existing for over 70 years. They said they marked the buildings for demolition, but most people did not know that their buildings were marked for demolition, and if it was marked, they should have given us time to relocate.”

But defending the action of the state government, in a press statement on Friday, the Commissioner for Works, Ifeanyi Okoma, explained that all the affected buildings were marked for demolition in December 2024 and the people were duly informed.

Okoma confirmed that the Head Office of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing was among the buildings.

He said, “These buildings were marked sometime in December or January. We are not looking at individuals; it is something that cuts across the whole place, and it is not personalised and it is not for political witch hunt.

“Even the Catholic Church and every other building that is along the road were not going to be exonerated. These roads were designed to decongest traffic gridlock experienced during festival periods.

There is no point to politicize the demolition exercise particularly that of Innoson Motors because the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo is the only governor nationwide that uses made-in-Nigeria vehicles. Chief Innoson is our man; anybody trying to create a wrong narrative about the demolition exercise does not mean well.”

Also expressing displeasure over the partial demolition of it’s head office, the Head of Corporate Communications at Innoson Group, Cornel Osigwe, on Friday, insisted there was no pre-notification notice before the demolition on Wednesday.

Osigwe disclosed that the office perimeter fence, some offices, the staircase and the company’s showroom were affected by the partial demolition.

He said, “There was no pre-notification ahead of the demolition; it came to us as a surprise. We did not know that the building itself was marked for demolition, and if it was marked, they should have given us time to relocate.

“The staff were working, and they just saw the demolition vehicle demolishing the building while work was going on.

“Some of our staff were trapped in the building; it took the efforts of our other staff to rescue those that were trapped while over 20 vehicles were also trapped.

“A day before the demolition, there was an announcement that there was going to be a demolition, and they were going to give one week for the houses that were marked for demolition to relocate.

“The company was not aware that the company was marked for demolition, and even if it was aware. There has been a public announcement that all the marked buildings have one week to relocate, but all those things were not considered.

“There were other buildings that were close to the head office and marked for demolition that were not demolished, but they came straight to our building and demolished it, making us wonder if there was another ulterior motive to it.”

He said the governor has been a great supporter of Innoson Vehicle, and Innoson has been a great supporter of the state government, adding, “But the way and manner that everything happened makes us wonder if the state government is aware that those handling the demolition have a personal vendetta against the company.