Okorocha under re for defying court order Demolition done with good intention- govt
By Christian Nwokocha, Owerri

The Imo State government has come under an intense fire following the weekend's demolition of the Owerri Main Market (Eke-Ukwu Owerri) in defiance of a subsisting court order issued by a vacation judge, Justice S.I. Opara.

Governor Rochas Okorocha reportedly vowed to forcefully eject the traders at the ancestral market and part of the popular Ama Hausa quarters also along Doug- las Road in the city.

The dramatic demolition exer- cise, which took place barely 48 hours after Governor Okorocha reportedly issued a quit notice to traders in the affected mar- ket, culminated in the gruesome murder of three persons, includ- ing a 12-year-old boy and bullet wounds to eight others. The vic- tims are believed to be part of the affected shop owners who resent- ed and resisted the demolition.

Orient Daily gathered that the controversial demolition began as early as 7:00 am on Saturday, August 26 when government bulldozers arrived the market, accompanied by stern looking, heavily armed soldiers, mobile police and other security operatives and started pulling down structures.

Irked by that resistance from the embattled traders whose shops and goods were being destroyed in the market and Owerri indigenes, the government draft- ed more soldiers to the area to quell further resistance. According to eyewitness account, things turned bloody when security operatives fired several gunshots in their desperate bid to protect the officials demolishing the market structures with stray bullets reportedly killed three persons.

The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem was not available to confirm the number of deaths and injured during the exercise. “I am in Abuja for a training now; it is not possible for me to confirm what is happening in Owerri”, the police PPRO said.

Defying the court

A former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney Gener- al of Imo State, Barrister Ken Njemanze (SAN) disclosed that Justice Opara who gave the sub- sisting court order invited the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Barrister M.O. Nlemadim, to un- dertake that the governor will not demolish the Owerri market until all matters related to it is disposed.

Nlemadim, he said, refused to guarantee the undertaking be- fore Justice Opara until the matter was transferred to Justice Orjiako’s court also in the Owerri high court. “All lawyers representing the state government including Niyi Akintola (SAN) and on our side, were present in Justice Orjiako’s court and agreed on a new adjournment date after vacation this year 2017. So, I am sad that the governor and the present Attorney General will disregard this lawful order and an agreement for a new date for hearing only to embark on demolition of the market. I am sad this is happening in Imo state, using the most lawless manner. If government cannot respect the lawful orders, what else do you expect from the citizens including Owerri people. It is a sad moment because lives and goods of persons are lost in the illegal exercise. We are still watching and thinking of the next line of action”, said Ken Njemanze (SAN).

Orient Daily was told that Oko- rocha administration’s insistence on relocating the Eke-Ukwu mar- ket was not unconnected with the earlier resistance by Owerri people against the acquisition of Owerri land at Area-K new Owerri capital territory.

A frontline Owerri indigene, Dr. Philip Njemanze, alleges that “There is no doubt that previous governors had similar encoun- ters with the Owerri indigenes, but Okorocha has become the worst among all the governors that have governed the state”.

“On arrival as governor in 2011, Okorocha did not leave anybody in doubt that he is prepared to acquire properties at all cost either from the Owerri indi- genes or any other person will- ing to give up his or her property under pressure. Okorocha lost his first battle to acquire land belonging to the Owerri indigenes at “Area K” new Owerri resulting to petitions we wrote against him at the United Nations. He claimed that the land was meant for a new five-star hotel”, Njemanze recounted.

The petition, according to him, was referred to former President Goodluck Jonathan who direct- ed the former Attorney General to resolve between the governor and Owerri people. The matter he said was resolved in favour of Owerri indigenes. “Okorocha has destroyed everything Owerri is known for. Therefore, he will never have rest of mind even if he leaves office. Owerri people will legitimately bring him to book”, Njemanze added.

The president-general of the Owerri Community Assembly, Felix Ngoka, also described the demolition of the ancestral mar- ket of the Owerri people as an act of lawlessness. He disclosed that the matter was already be- fore the court of law which had earlier granted an injunction re- straining the governor from inter- fering with the market until the substantive suit filed against the government was disposed of.

“The matter is still in court and the court gave an injunction re- straining the government from interfering with the market, but what the governor has done to- day is nothing but lawlessness when the matter has not been determined by the court of law. We are law abiding people and you saw how the governor used armed security agents and thugs to forcefully eject the people of Owerri from their ancestral market,” Ngoka said.

He added that the governor had earlier informed them that he wanted to modernise the mar- ket last year but he was told that the place is an ancestral market where the women of Owerri sell their vegetables and other food- stuffs; that it was the only market that Owerri people have and that it had been existing for almost 200 years even before Nigeria became a country. Recently, the governor, he said, indicated that he wanted to build a modern school on the site of the market, stating that the traders should relocate to Ohii in Egbeada in Mbaitoli local government area.

Ngoka further stated that they had suggested to the state governor a number of times to fence off the market from the road in order to reduce the traffic grid lock experienced on Douglas Road by street traders but that he had re- fused to do that because he has a special interest in the location of the market.

Why we demolished

Meanwhile, the Imo government has issued official explanations for its controversial demolition exercise, justifying that it was carried out as the first step towards concretising its relocation to another site at Ohii, Egbeada in Mbaitoli local government area.

The government explained, in a statement, issued through the chief press secretary to the governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, that the relocation of the market was in line with the urban renewal programme of the Rochas Okorocha administration.

According to the statement, the relocation of the market which was delayed for almost two years was done with good intention and in the spirit of its Urban Renewal Pursuit.

The statement read in parts: “The government has taken this noble action to equally recover Douglas Road that connects the state with other neighbouring states which has remained a re- fuse dump for the traders in the market, and to deal once and for all, with the prevalent criminal activities in the area like robbery, cultism and kidnapping.

“The action was a peaceful one and with the successful relocation of the market to a better area, the government will now go ahead to rebuild Douglas Road and realise its lofty dream of making Owerri a befitting city.”

The government also de- bunked claims that the demolition exercise had entailed violence, stating that online media reports, which gave the impression that the exercise was not peaceful, were the “deliberate and concerted efforts by some elements who do not love progress, and want to use the relocation of the Ekeukwu Owerri mar- ket to blackmail the government of the day and perhaps cause undue tension in the state.”

It further noted: “These people who have refused or failed to appreciate the good in relocating Ekeukwu market Owerri to a more acceptable area have been dishing out rumours including people being shot dead. These are wicked rumours.”
Source: https://orientdailynews.com/outrage-trails-o…arket-demolition/
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