Hundreds of residents of Nchatancha Nike community in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State have been left without shelter as the state government has demolished their houses.

Some of the residents, with newborn babies, were equally thrown out without allowing them to take out any of their belongings.

While the government claimed that the land the residents built their houses on was acquired by the state under the previous administration of former Governor Sullivan Chime, some residents had lived on their property even before the emergency of Sullivan Chime as governor.

And while the state government claimed it acquired over 5,000 hectares, the Nchatancha Nike community has debunked the claims, averring that the state government under Chime was given 450 hectares or 5,000 plots of land and had yet to pay compensations to the community.

One of the numerous residents whose property was demolished was Mrs. Ngozi Dede, who claimed that while one of her properties was marked and duly issued an eviction notice, her multi-million naira poultry and fish farm, located far from where the government had pegged as the boundary of its acquired land, was demolished, with 18,000 birds and 5,000 grown-up fishes destroyed without notice.

The recent government demolitions started with over 200 houses, including multi-million naira hotels in Obeagu and Amechi Awkunanaw, which were tagged as ‘kidnappers’ dens,’ probably as an alibi to justify the unjustifiable demolition.

Demolition of houses and farms at the Nchatancha Nike community started on the penultimate Tuesday and when the South East, it was a horrible scene to behold, considering the state of Nigeria’s economic challenges.

Mrs. Dede, Enugu-born but married to Abia State, described the demolition of farms as horrible and man’s inhumanity to man, wondering how a government lobbying investors to come to Enugu State to invest would be so callous to destroy existing investment without legal and due process.

Lamenting her loss, Mrs. Dede, who is currently battling to save the life of her husband at a private hospital in the state, said, “I learned that they (the government) are demolishing some places. Nobody told me that my farm was marked; even the people working here said that the farm was not marked or issued eviction notices. I acquired and built this farm legally. I pay taxes in millions of naira to the government.

“My workers and other neighbors showed me an area that was marked with beacons. All of a sudden I was called that one man; a commissioner, came and said that my farm should be included. My workers were shouting that this area was not marked, but the caterpillar went in and started demolishing the farm. No notice to vacate. So, as they were demolishing, I came in, I saw them and I was stopping them. I pleaded that they should give me one day to pack the birds but they refused and demolished everything.

“I have 10,000 hens laying eggs. I harvest 300 crates of eggs every day from this farm. I have 6,000 pullets that I bought that are about three to four months old; I have 2,000 broilers that I was supposed to sell this Easter; 5,000 grown-up fish and 2,000 fingerlings, all of which were destroyed. I felt so bad that such a thing could be happening in Nigeria today. The government is there for the people and not the other way.

“I know when development is coming in, you tell people, and you give notice. People like me did not collect any notice; I didn’t even know that they were doing anything. I have not been around and I have been calling my farm and I heard that they are working at St David Road. I didn’t know they had included my farm.”

She informed that she bought the land in 2017 and completed the farm in September 2017, adding, “Meanwhile, they did not mark here. When you go front, you see where they put beacons and red ribbons. Even yesterday while I was here I met some people, I even saw the chairman of Capital Territory and told him that I heard that my farm was not marked and no eviction notice was issued to my farm, then why the demolition, he told me, ‘Madam, it is from the authority.’

“Even a woman working for me with the husband, she was sleeping with her baby at the boys’ quarter, when they started the demolition.

She didn’t know that anything was happening. It was the people who were shouting before she came out with her baby, otherwise, they would have killed the woman and the baby in their sheer wickedness.

So, I’m so surprised to see this kind of wickedness because they didn’t give me any notice. If they had given me notice at least, I would have saved the lives of the birds if not for any other thing.”

Describing the demolition as bad, Mrs Dede said, “We all know about development, if government comes and says it needs an area they should give people notice and give time. When the people do not comply you can go ahead and do whatever you want to do.

“Everybody in Nigeria knows the hardship in the country. I am just controlling myself; I couldn’t even sleep last night. I am just controlling my temper; I don’t even know what to say.”

On the cost of what she lost, she said, “Like now, when you have a day old chicken, ask anybody, it is N950, let alone the birds that are laying eggs for a year now. I can’t even quantify the millions of naira I lost here off-head. Because having 10,000 birds, anybody that is into the farming business will tell you how much. Just two weeks ago, I made feeds here that cost N3 million, just for my layers, not even for the broilers. The new pullets I bought at N600 each and 6000 of them. I have been feeding them for three months now. I can’t even quantify what I lost here.”

Another victim of the demolition, Mr Oha Uchenna Samson, whose property was viciously damaged, said his wife with a two-month-old baby narrowly escaped death, as she was sleeping when the bulldozer came calling.

He lamented that not a single pin was removed from his massive bungalow and a piggery farm, despite that the properties were not issued eviction notices or even marked.

He said, “There’s nothing like demand notice, they dragged my wife with a newborn baby out of my house and demolished everything, including the baby’s belongings. My house was built in 2013, and the government did not give me any eviction notice. I am not opposing any development, but I think there’s a process to take over somebody’s property.

“I have a property that they marked for demolition and I religiously picked my things out of the property. Governor Peter Mbah ruined my life and that of my entire family with the innocent baby that was born barely two months ago because I am not from Enugu State. Where do I start from? This is the height of evil. My house was not marked for demolition, and there was no eviction notice, why would the state government, led by the Commissioner for Lands, order the demolition of the house while my family was inside, and my piggery farm with 45 grown-up piggies killed?

“I was busy helping people pack out their things in the areas where the government marked when I was called to come that they were demolishing my house. My wife with the new baby knelt begging, to at least allow us to remove our things, but the commissioner and the Director of Capital Territory used police and soldiers to push them down. They demolished the house with all our properties, including the baby’s wears. Nothing, I mean nothing, was removed from the house. They captured the people they marked their property for demolition, but I was not.”

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Asked when he bought the land, he said, “I bought this land in January 2012 and developed it in 2013 and now they have demolished everything, including my farm, and killed over 45 piggies. There’s no information, our houses were not marked and we were not issued any eviction notice. The government has put beacons in the areas it said it had acquired from the community, why then demolish my house? This is injustice.

“Nobody carries land around. I bought the land from the family that owned it legitimately. This place is not part of what the government acquired from the community. If you want to take over my property, why not notify me? Where do you want me to go with my children and newborn baby? I know I have no power of my own, but there’s God. If what they have done is good, let those who authorized it go free but if there’s an injustice, let God who sees everything reward them according to their deeds.”

Another victim, Mr Emmanuel Chukwu, a native of Anambra State, lamented the demolition of his house, noting that he is still traumatized by the shock of the demolition.

He said, “I am from Anambra State. I bought the land in 2023 and built a bungalow. I moved in with my family to the house in April last year. This year, we started hearing that the government and indigenes of the community are having issues over their farmland, where their crops are being destroyed without paying them compensation. The place is far away from this place. But after the government claimed that their workers were attacked and caterpillar burnt, the government, in its reaction decided to take over our properties.

“They gave us notice on February 26 and less than 12 hours; they came with a caterpillar and demolished my house. The governor, Peter Mbah supervised it. I lost over N60 million. I have little children with my wife, where does the government want us to go and stay? House rent in Enugu is from N700,000 to N1.5 million. They have demolished all my property, so how do I start life again. No compensation. This is evil, no matter how you look at it. Is ?t not people who are going to sell the houses that they are building