After state officials demolished his multi-billion-naira commercial complex at Naze intersection in Owerri North local government area, Imo State, developer Engr. Bernard Anyanwu Nzerem screamed out. He claims that the worth of the destroyed business complex is N2.2 billion.
Nzerem told reporters in Owerri that the destruction was illegal and that he had proof to support his assertion.
The commissioner of the ministry of science, technology, and engineering, Ikenna Elezianya, and Nze Chinasa Nwaneri, the special adviser to the governor on monitoring and compliance, allegedly tore down the building without his knowledge or consent.
According to Nzerem, who spoke to journalists, he is pleading with the right people to see that justice is served and is demanding fair recompense for the destruction of his life’s work.
During his time away from the state, the developer’s whole investment was levelled to rubble, causing him trauma, as he described.
He asserts that the structures that were demolished had been approved by the appropriate authorities. Among them were a contemporary business plaza and a retail mall located at No. 1 Naze/Federal Polytechnic Junction, off Owerri/Aba Road.
According to his account, the land was legitimately purchased in 2010 from MiTech Nigeria Limited, a business that had previously owned the property since 1982 when it was purchased from the Naze community, the original proprietors.
The seven clans of Naze’s elders and delegates have signed and endorsed all of the documents, according to Engr. Nzerem. However, he expressed sadness that some of the elders who originally signed the documents are now running late.
It was disclosed by him that the relevant authorities, including Cosmos Iwu, the Office of the Commissioner of Police, the Governor’s Office, and others, had received the required paperwork, including the Certificate of Occupancy and Power of Attorney, among others.
The official documentation were forwarded for proper verification and intervention, but nothing was done to stop the demolition, he bemoaned.
As the buildings crumbled to dust, the developer couldn’t believe his hard work had been for naught.
While he was abroad in Lagos attending a professional training program, he said that two officials, accompanied by armed police officers and unidentifiable youths, assaulted his land and used heavy machinery to demolish the structures.
He said the property that was destroyed was not an impediment and had not been built on any government-designated area, and that the whole thing was an intentional act of injustice.
In a previous review, Nzerem intimated that Enyinna Onuegbu, the Commissioner for Lands, had verified the legitimacy of his documents.
While the operation was underway, he revealed that five of his employees, one of whom was a commercial driver, were taken into custody and held for five days at Tiger Base.
The developer came clean about the fact that sixty young Imo people who had been working at the shopping complex were now unemployed and dealing with trauma.
“I am in a terrible place emotionally and mentally, and it’s just not possible to face the prospect of losing all I’ve worked for in the past fifteen years,” he stated.
Nzerem claimed that the two officials’ personal interests, rather than the public welfare, motivated them to engage in land grabbing and abuse of power. To make sure he had enough money, he begged the state governor, Hope Uzodinma, to step in quickly.
The developer further demanded that the governor conduct a full investigation and move quickly to rectify what he saw as an obvious injustice.
Upon being called, the commissioner for science, technology, and engineering provided an explanation, saying that the governor had instructed this action to be carried out.
He clarified that the site in issue was acquired as part of a larger plan by the State Government to improve the state’s transport infrastructure through the construction of three Central Bus Terminals in Owerri, which included the demolition of the property in question.
The land in question is actually owned by the government, and the buildings that were built on it were actually built illegally.
The official layout assigns the territory entirely for government use, whereas Nzerem is parading obsolete land documents, the commissioner stated.
He elaborated by saying that the Ministry of Lands and the Surveyor General of State, Bob Odidika Uzodinma, had visited the site and verified the illegal construction. The allegations made against Elezianya were described as defamatory, and he rejected them as baseless.
The speaker continued by saying that Nzerem should stop attacking the media and focus on getting compensation from the governor, who is the one with the power to handle such cases.
Instead than stoking needless controversies, the Commissioner urged media practitioners to consistently practise investigative journalism, emphasising that the public interest should be at the forefront of their reporting.