The Enugu State Government yesterday dismissed trending videos of alleged indiscriminate demolition of property at the Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City, also known as Enugu Centenary City.
The Commissioner for Information, Aka Eze, while conducting reporters round the demolished structures, said only illegal and uncompleted structures, including buildings that served as kidnappers’ hideouts, were demolished.
He said the demolition by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) was in line with the government’s commitment to securing lives and property, and protecting investments.
He said: “What we saw in the trending video today was an attempt by the originators to demarket Enugu State as an investment destination for Real Estate development. But in reality the operation by ECTDA and the security agencies was a testament that the government is resolved to rid the state of criminal elements and protect property rights and investments in the state.
“In this instance, you are all aware of the distance we travelled from the city to get to this place. The culprits did not only erect the structures without any title and approval, they got inside this place pretending to be a block industry, whereas as you can see, they were into nefarious activities.”
The ECTDA’s chairman, Uche Anya, said the agency would not “succumb to blackmail, including recycling and trending of videos of past demolitions.”
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the state police command, Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement yesterday, said the command arrested three kidnap suspects and recovered arms at the demolished property, assuring that they would be arraigned in court once investigations were concluded.
