The Enugu State administration has refuted allegations that inhabitants of Nchatancha Nike, one of the numerous communities impacted by the ongoing development of New Enugu metropolis, a smart metropolis announced by Governor Peter Mbah in October, had been forcibly removed from their homes and their homes have been demolished.
It said that some of the offenders were already in the security net and attributed the protests and disruptions, including the attack on a bulldozer at the construction site on Monday, on local land grabbers who sell pieces of their already acquired and gazetted lands to uninvited bidders.
The statement claimed that even though the impacted communities had already received notice when previous administrations started purchasing land years prior, the Governor Peter Mbah administration was handling the massive project humanely by making sure that adequate compensation and relocations were completed before any demolitions took place.
During a site visit with journalists at Nchatancha Nike, where a bulldozer was attacked, Enugu State State Government Secretary Prof. Chidiebere Onyia provided the clarifications on Monday. He also vowed that the government would not be deterred in its determination to actualize the first phase of the New City in 24 months, as previously agreed with the China Communication Construction Company, CCCC, in October.
According to him, the governor had already held a number of meetings, gained the support of the local people, and instructed the contractors to start working on the project around-the-clock.
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Speaking to reporters on the scene, Prof. Onyia said, “We have found that some community members, seeing how confident the governor is in creating this New Enugu City, started selling the lands to gullible people, knowing that those buyers, not them, will now have to contend with the government.”
“But I think we need to step back and answer the questions on when this process started. The first acquisition process started long before this government came. People have been served the notice many years ago that there would be a day like this when a government would decide that it is now time to actualise the promise to build a new city.
“But in doing that, what the governor decided would happen first is to clear the first 1,000 hectares. There are no homes here, as you can see. A few of the marked items you saw at the entrance belong to federal institutions.
Onyia, however, cautioned prospective homeowners to exercise caution and diligence to avoid falling for con artists peddling the same land that the government had long since gazetted and acquired.
At the project’s October kickoff, Governor Mbah stated that Dubai, Singapore, and other global metropolises would coexist with the New Enugu City.