Posted by On Saturday, the Abia State Government started demolishing buildings that unauthorized tenants had built on Government College, Umuahia property.
Kingsley Agomoh, general manager of the Umuahia Capital Development Authority (UCDA), spoke during the demolition exercise and stated that it is a warning to individuals who want to infringe on government territory.
Agomoh clarified that the Government College Umuahia was given a certificate of occupancy by the Abia State government to the Old Boys Association of the institution.
He questioned why some people would continue to sell government land and emphasized the importance of conducting thorough research before buying land.
He went on to say that prior to the destruction, the owners of the encroached land had received the proper notification. He stated that the Government College, Umuahia, now owns the structures that were once on the encroached areas.
Friday Ohaeri, the chairman of Umuana Ndume lbeku, clarified that the Government College Umuahia is the rightful owner of the encroached land, pointing out that their ancestors freely handed the land to the government.
According to him, the people who invaded the area did so out of self-interest rather than on behalf of the Umuana Community.
Eze Justice Chinonyerem Uwaka, the Second National Vice President of the Government College Umuahia Old Boys Association, recalled that the areas of the school that were encroached upon were formerly the college farms.
He clarified that although they had previously requested the undocumented residents to vacate the property, they had maintained that the Umuana people had sold them the land.
Uwaka insisted that the exercise will serve as a deterrent to others and that the state government turned over the school to the Old Boys of Government College for educational growth with the Certificate of Occupancy.
According to the Worldoh, the Abia State Government has established a committee to reclaim roughly 180 school properties that were purportedly appropriated by private parties.