Following the building collapse that occurred on Basden Street, Fegge, Onitsha, on Saturday, the Anambra State Government on Monday demolished no fewer than 2,000 shops on Niger Street in Fegge, Onitsha South Local Government Area of the state.
The shops, located by the bank of the River Niger, were mostly owned by members of the Sand Miners Association of Anambra State, who used them as equipment and operational offices, while some were occupied by petty traders who serviced them.
The illegal structures were said to have been built by traders who allegedly got approval from the National Inland Waterways Authority.
However, the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, during a visit to the area last week, stated that NIWA does not have the right to build or allocate spaces to traders on Anambra land.
Soludo, during the inspection of roads constructed by his administration, ordered the Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government, Chief Emeka Orji, to demolish all the illegal structures, noting that the land belongs to Anambra State and not NIWA.
“The code or bye-laws establishing NIWA gave the organisation 100 metres from the banks of the River Niger as a right of easement, but what we are seeing here are illegal structures and should be demolished,” the governor said.
This development is coming as the state government has declared war on illegal structures following the collapse of a five-storey building at Fegge in the same community.
The exercise displaced over 4,000 people, while multi-million naira equipment and goods were damaged in the exercise.
The council boss, Orji, who supervised the demolition, told journalists and the displaced victims that he was acting on the orders of the governor, following the incessant building collapses in the area.
Orji said, “A notice was issued regarding the demolition, and it was followed by a series of follow-up notices, but they disobeyed.
“Then last week, Mr Governor came here and told them that this place is not for shops or markets and ordered me to demolish the area, but I gave them another one-week notice which ended today.”
