As the seven days notice issued by Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) to Hausa inhabitants to vacate Ama Hausa headquarters in Owerri Municipal in the State Capital, land owners of the area have vowed to resist attempts by OCDA to demolish the place.
Youths of Umuokorie kindred in Umuihua Umuodu in Owerri, owners of the land where Ama Hausa headquarters is located, said it is wrong for the state government to contemplate destroying the area without the least consultation with those who own the land.
Leader of the group, Mr Kelechi Ogazi said Ama Hausa is not a government acquired land, rather a private layout and compound of Umuokoro kindred.
Speaking to Trumpeta, he revealed that the Hausas came to settle in the area based on a bilateral agreement between their forefathers and the Hausas, stressing that the location was the first place Hausas and their forefathers exchanged trade.
He said most of the youths of the area own shops and other structures in Ama Hausa, stating that any plan by OCDA to demolish without the least consultation with owners of the land is totally unacceptable.
He added that they are not opposed to peaceful dialogue or averse to policies and programmes of the Rochas Okorocha administration as well.
“We are not resisting government, but the right thing ought to be done, we hope they will listen to us” he declared.
In his remarks, youth Chairman of the Community, Comrade Obinna said, it is sad that the state government fails to consult host communities before embarking on demolition or taking the land of Owerri people for development purposes.
In a related development, the General Manager of the Owerri Capital (OCDA), Mr Iheanyi Abaekwume has debunked the allegation by some suspected staff members that he was depleting the resources of the authority, describing the allegation as an unsuccessful blackmail meant to stop him from achieving his set goals.
Some unnamed staff of the OCDA were reported to have accused the GM of making desperate moves to misappropriate funds to the tune of over N9 million through a crony as well as releasing the sum of N3,080,000.00 for non-existent pail loader repairs, among others.
But reacting to the allegation the GM denied all the allegations, and rather accused the former director of administration of OCDA, and the Accountant, (names withheld) of being brains behind the report which he described as unfounded.
According to Mr Abaekwume, the OCDA had an abandoned pail loader and bulldozer but was still living from others at the cost of N150,000 each on daily basis because the accountant had said it would cost between N10 million to N15 million to repair it.
He said because of his probity in spending the machines, a PortHarcourt based export came and charged the sum of N4 m for the repair.
This is even as he accused that former DAF of deceit for initially telling him that the machines had spoilt beyond repair.
On the N6.8 used for Accelerated City Beatification Programme (ACBP), the GM said the ongoing beatification of Owerri city especially Wetheral road, Akwakuma, etc was as a result of ACBP because it is our believe that for a city to be beautiful, it has to be organized properly so to be pleasing to the eye.
He stated that all the staff who he approved to carryout the ACBP job on different locations, it was only the Accountant who finished his own on Wetheral Road because he could easily access the said N6.8m as the accountant.
He added that they discouraged him from making moves to stop the 40 percent deductions made on the OCDA account monthly by state Government. Adding that he had been severally deceived by them in the course of doing the job.
The OCDA disclosed that the last straw that broke the cannel’s back was that the sum N200,000 approved for press briefing recently was sat on the accountant, adding that the accountant and the DAF, had tripartite bottleneck.
He maintained that, he had been committed to paying the staff salaries and pensions, saying the staffers are happy with the new lease of life he introduced in the establishment.
The general manager who expressed his faith in Journalism profession, advised newsmen to always investigate properly before going to press as any falsehood they publish may be taken as truth by the reading public.
