Rise, protect Anambra properties, infrastructures from grabbers, touts, CSO writes Soludo
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has urged the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to take concrete steps to protect critical properties, infrastructures belonging to the state from “property grabbers… troublesome billionaires and motor park touts”.
Intersociety made the call at Onitsha, Anambra State, on Monday, October 31, 2022, in a letter titled “Government service parks, gardens, perimeter fencing, beatified tracks, flowering spots, service lanes and street lights are facing unchecked attacks, destruction, encroachment and conversion to private properties by violent property grabbers, transporters, troublesome billionaires and motor park touts thereby threatening ‘Welcome to Anambra State’ with ‘Welcome to pigsty and arena of lawlessness’”.
The CSO urged Governor Soludo to take immediate action and secure “multibillion naira ‘State Legacy Projects’ being destroyed, defaced and converted to private properties” by unscrupulous elements in the state.
The letter, jointly signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, the Board Chair of Intersociety, Barristers Obianuju Joy Igboeli and Chidinma Udegbunam, reads:
“The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) is writing to bring the immediate attention of Your Excellency to the critical subject matter underlined above. The cardinal aim of this letter is not only to draw the attention of the Government of Anambra State under Your Excellency, but most importantly for the State Government to take charge and protect the State’s critical public infrastructures above listed presently at unchecked risk of vandalism, encroachment, defacing, criminal possession or conversion to private properties, criminal hideouts, touting and brigandage.
Intersociety is saddened that the Government of Your Excellency appears to be watching and allowing such multibillion naira ‘State Legacy Projects’ being destroyed, defaced and converted to private properties by agents of lawlessness and troublesome billionaires with possible collusion of unscrupulous top officials of the Government of the State and the State Local Government System.
The Government Legacy Project Infrastructures under unchecked attack and destruction or conversion to private properties are the about 5 Kilometer-long Anambra State Government Perimeter Fencing covering the right side of Onitsha Upper-Iweka (from Old Aba Park by Onitsha-Owerri Road) to Niger Bridgehead and its left side covering ABC Transport to Niger Bridgehead, Four Onitsha Upper Iweka Gardens (Former MIC-MERAH, Former EKESON, Former Asaba and Former TRACAS Parks), three Service Parks or Parking Lots for private car owners (Ogbogwu Computer Service Park, Carpenters Tools Service Park and Old Benin Park Service Parks), Beatified Tracks between Aba Park/Upper Iweka and Niger Bridgehead and its gardens, Flowering Arenas covering the area and Roadside/Street Lightening Poles between Onitsha Niger Bridgehead and Nkpor Flyover Bridgehead/New Tyre Market, etc.
Immediate Action Expected From Government Of Anambra State
It is the minimum expectation of Intersociety that the Government of Anambra State under Your Excellency should immediately and swiftly step in and save the multibillion naira State’s Legacy Project Infrastructures from further vandalism, defacing, encroachment and conversion to private properties. The Government of Your Excellency is also expected to go farther than the above by designating the threatened public infrastructures to routine management maintenance, beautification and protection. They must also be regularly rid of touts, brigands and other criminal elements. The Government of Your Excellency should immediately embark on massive rehabilitation, electrification and beautification of such key infrastructures and undertake responsibility of recovering all the ceded portions of the Service Parks, Beatified Tracks, Gardens and Flowering Arenas including flushing out illegal occupants of such portions and dismantling of their erected kiosks and shanties. Your Excellency’s Government should as a matter of overriding public importance, health and decency embark on painting of the Government Concrete Perimeter Fencing and repair of their pulled down or destroyed partitions. Such paintings should be extended to corrugated fences of the three Service Parks, the four Gardens, Flowering Arenas, Beatified Tracks, Roadside Lightening Poles and road demarcation slabs from Niger Bridgehead to Old Ogbunike Toll Gate so as to give the entrance into the State a decent look and truly project the State as “Light of the Nation”.
Over 15 Partitions Of The Perimeter Fencing Lost Or Destroyed
Recent field checks by Intersociety clearly showed that not less than 15 partitions of the hundreds of millions of naira worth of the Public Perimeter Fencing have been pulled down, out of which not less than ten got destroyed since the inception of the Government of Your Excellency on 17th March 2022. The areas the destruction had taken place include Old Aba Park/Owerri Road/Ogbaru International Relief Market axis; former Premier Breweries axis and Conoil Filling Station by Bridgehead Private Motor Parks axis, etc. It must be remembered that following massive defacing of the both sides of the Onitsha Upper Iweka-Bridgehead of the Onitsha-Asaba Expressway by lawless citizens including troublesome billionaires and violent property grabbers, transporters, market leaders and motor park touts; the then Government of Anambra State under Peter Obi undertook the costly project of erecting concrete and corrugated perimeter fencing from left side of the Old Aba Park at Upper Iweka to Niger Bridgehead and right side of the ABC Transport at Upper Iweka to Niger Bridgehead. The Government perimeter fencing was also done with beatified tracks dotted with silver stones and flowers. Today, not only that the perimeter fencing is under severe attack and destruction but also substantial part of its beatified tracks have been defaced and replaced with kiosks and shanties belonging to private hawkers and traders.
Government Service Parks Defaced And Replaced With Shanties And Kiosks
The three Service Parks built by the Government of Anambra State: Ogbogwu Computer Service Park, Carpenters’ Service Park and Old Benin Park Service Park all located at Bridgehead Market near Onitsha Niger Bridgehead have been abandoned, defaced and converted to shanties and kiosks and ceded to traders, motor park touts and hawkers. Apart from the fact that all their fancy metal fencing and corrugated entrance partitions have been pulled down, shanties and kiosks have dotted their substantial portions and become hideouts for sundry social vices and criminalities. There has also been secret ceding of their portions to private individuals as well as privatization and diversion of parking tolls being generated. At Ogbogwu Computer Service Park, portions have been secretly allocated to private persons, same goes to Carpenters’ Tool Service Park and Old Benin Park Service Park where half of their spaces are now dotted with kiosks and shanties ceded to sellers of traditional medicine and herbs, Indian hemps and other illicit drugs. The three Service Parks were built by the Government of Anambra State to decongest the area of chronic gridlock and beatify the entrance into the State. The Parks were also built with public restrooms or toilets and exit and entrance points.
Upper Iweka Gardens Now Hideouts For Criminals And Touts
All the four Gardens and Beatified Tracks belonging to the Government of Anambra State have been taken over by street urchins, ruffians, motor park touts and criminals. The four Gardens have also been riotously broken into and defaced. Very soon if urgent steps are not taken by the Government of Your Excellency, the four Gardens and Beatified Tracks will secretly be ceded or sold to violent transporters and troublesome billionaires. It must be remembered Your Excellency, that the four Gardens, original part of the Upper Iweka Flyover design, were recovered from violent transporters during the Peter Obi’s Administration to curb rising rate of fatal accidents, road congestion and menaces of touts and criminals. They were consequently converted to Gardens with beatifications and public restrooms or toilets, etc.
Welcome To Anambra Is Now In Total Darkness
The Roadside lightening especially from Niger Bridgehead to Upper Iweka and Nkpor Flyover is facing serious abandonment, vandalism and darkness; likewise all the flowering arenas, gardens and beatified tracks in the area. They are either vandalized or defaced and littered with kiosks and shanties. The level of defecation going on in the area is comparable to pre 2006 period. Major gutters and waterways in the area are presently dotted with human faeces and urines by motor park touts, street urchins and non Igbo natives.
Extortionist Traffic Regulators On Rampage At Upper Iweka-Bridgehead Axis
Your Excellency’s attention is drawn to the above whereby it has been observed that persons deployed to the field by the Government of Your Excellency have converted the State Government’s recently rolled out road traffic policies and regulations into money making venture solely targeting private vehicle owners for purpose of extorting them at will. It has been further observed by our field trip personnel that commercial motorists are allowed to drive anyhow with alacrity including one-way drive between Onitsha Upper Iweka Lagos Park and Niger Bridgehead. This is to the extent that personnel deployed by the Government of Your Excellency overlook them and focus their attention on private motorists whose cars are impounded at will for ‘parking off the technical side of the Expressway or its two Service Lanes’. The victims include those who park off the Expressway to drop their friends or answer phone calls are recklessly blocked and have their cars impounded randomly and in the end, eachof the victims is forced to cough out between N20, 000 and N50, 000 without being receipted or indented procedurally.
Bridgehead Chronic Gridlock Caused By Police, FRSC And Revenue Extortionists
It has been severally investigated and found that the chronic motorized hold-up or gridlock at Onitsha Niger Bridgehead is caused by unchecked extortionist activities by different security personnel and Government and individual toll collectors. The gridlock has chronically become a daily occurrence as different police patrol squads, Federal Road Safety Corps personnel, soldiers and Government and private toll collectors have formed habit of blocking the exit into Asaba and entrance into Onitsha for sundry extortionist activities. The gridlock has also led to several road accidents resulting in the death of dozens of persons in recent times. For instance, on Friday, 28th Oct 2022, no fewer than six-ten persons lost their lives on the same spot when a big lorry that lost its brake from Asaba rammed into a passenger commercial bus with unspecified number of passengers. The commercial bus was squeezed beyond repair and its boarded passengers crushed to death. Also killed were a Keke riderand his female passenger. Moments after the fatal accident, all the extortionist squads fled the arena resulting in random decongestion of the arena and less than 24 hours after on Sat 29th Oct, the terrible gridlock bounced back after the extortionist squads returned to the scene. Your Excellency is called upon to decongest the gridlock in the area and ban all the extortionist squads from putting the ever busy arena under terror.
The Armchair Attitudes Of Your Excellency’s Commissioners Worrying
Your Excellency Sir, this is over eight months into Your Excellency’s Administration and Your Excellency’s appointed Commissioners still substantially portray armchair and carefree attitudes to their ministerial duties and responsibilities. This is to the extent that they have not been publicly seen or sighted embarking on critical field or ministerial project tours or fact findings. Most of the problems highlighted above would have been nipped in the bud had Your Excellency’s commissioners be alive to their duties and responsibilities including visiting the problem scenes above named. The routine working presence of the Commissioner in charge of Transport or Environment or LGA Matters or Trade and Commerce, etc, for instance, would have effectively checkmated the problems including the chronic gridlock at Onitsha Niger Bridgehead and encroachment and defacing of the Service Parks and Gardens, commercialization of motor traffic regulations, etc.” Read more.
Related Posts
