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The Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA has justified the ‘development control activities’ it carried out at Works Layout, GRA, within the State capital.
A resident of the State, Mr. Anthony Njoku had last week in a trending video accused the agency of pulling down his 15-year-old property without any justifiable reason.
Njoku had claimed that he is only a victim of a vendetta and that he presented fence permits, certificate of occupancy, title documents and building plan approvals to the chairman of the agency, but it fell on deaf ears.
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But addressing journalists in his office on Monday, Chairman of the ECTDA, Mr. Joseph Onoh said the demolished structures had no approval, adding that they were also erected on power transmission line and waterway.
He said whereas the only approval for the Plot 17 was for a bungalow, a duplex, serving industial purposes, was standing on the property.
Onoh said there was need to clear “mischievous, political and malicious information currently trending and designed to discredit the development control activities of this agency by a certain Mr. Anthony Njoku, who I do not know personally, except for the discharge of my duties.
‘He has gone further claiming that the agency has caused him grievous harm, amounting to N700m and he also alleged that he actually presented this agency with building approvals before the demolition was done.
‘Normally, the agency does not owe any apology when we try to sanitize the State because that is what it is meant to be, but we have decided to address the press in order to put on record the true state of things. The intention of the purveyors of the fake news is to present this government as reckless, heartless, land grabbers and lawless administration, hence it became necessary that the press should be addressed.’
He further disclosed that “the agency had on the 14th Day of October 2020, issued a notice requesting for building plan and approvals; a violation notice was also issued on the same date.
‘It is also important to note that after that, where was no submission to this agency. According to the law, once the agency writes, the person has 14 days to respond, failing which we will do the needful and the person will bear the cost, that is the violator.
‘Then again, on 12th day of November, 2020, a demolition notice was served and pasted on plot 17 and also other relevant plots, including the former MAN Petrol, which has an eatery by the side. The first demolition occurred on that waterway and he complied.
‘It is also important to note that the Plot 17 was not registered in the name of the said character, Mr. Anthony Njoku as the property has already been sold to someone else, Okechukwu Aneke, who we were told was not in the country and who we met on the day of the exercise.’
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