Labour Accuses Mbah of Political Victimisation of Opponents

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Labour Party has accused the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, of demolishing properties belonging to his perceived political enemies.

The party also accused the governor of demolishing properties without any compensation.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the governorship candidate of the Labour party in the last governorship election, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, also demanded a public apology and compensation from the governor.

The Labour Party chieftain accused the governor of demolishing the properties of Ifesinachi Transport Ltd and Peace Mass Transit, stating that the state government claimed that it acted in public interest.

The Premier Hotel in Nsukka formerly owned by an elder statesman, Charles Abangwu, was equally demolished on the perceived allegation that majority of the Nsukka senatorial district of the state did not vote for him.

According Edeoga, “In the month of June 2024, agents of the government of Enugu state, amidst wailings of anguish and despair of traumatized citizens, supervised the simultaneous demolitions of markets and built-up places in many parts of Enugu state.

“With regards to immediate impacts on the overall well-being of the directly affected persons, their dependents, and their sources of income and sustenance, the devastation was clearly reminiscent of the horrors of the 1966 to 1970 Nigerian civil war and its immediate aftermath.

“Vast settlements at Okpara Avenue, containing iconic buildings, banks, schools, SMEs, an orphanage run by the Red Cross, transport terminals, etc., were all crushed in a destructive rage that was fuelled by motives that are still unfolding”, he stated.

He explained that “These destructions were executed in other centers of commerce and human habitation in Enugu metropolis, including; Gariki, Abakpa, and then Ogige market in Nsukka Local Government Area.

“The devastation, the horrors of which are beyond normal human contemplation were executed with little or no notice. They attracted widespread condemnation. and even outright demonstrations and marches by aggrieved people in parts of the state.

“The Enugu state government countered the points raised against its action with ready-made rebuttals and defences, lamely arguing that destruction must necessarily precede development; that the state government acted to restore the state’s masterplan; that compensations have been paid to the affected persons; that modern bus terminals will serve better and, in the case of Ogige market in Nsukka, when the outcry became quite loud and ominous, that the state government had provided an alternative location for the displaced traders.

He said that attention had been focused substantially on the devastation wrecked by agents of the state government at the establishments adjacent Okpara Avenue in Enugu state.

According to him, “It was the subject of a viral BBC video broadcast. The matter was also the subject of a Motion brought before the House of Representatives; the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Barr. Ugo Agballah also addressed a world press conference where he stated that “Land Grab” was the main driver of the destruction that occurred”

Giving details of the perceived politically motivated demolition, Edeoga said, “These destructions, directed by the Enugu State Government on a vast and unprecedented scale as I pointed out earlier were executed also at Gariki, in Enugu South LGA, Abakpa in Enugu East LGA, and at Ogige-Nsukka market in Nsukka LGA. Ogige-Nsukka market is equally a huge market but stands apart from the other three major centers of trade and commerce that were destroyed by agents of Enugu state government.

“Ogige-Nsukka market is at once an emporium, a cultural centre, and a daily market that serves both the interest of the locals of the immediate Nsukka environment and other buyers and sellers from Kogi, Benue, and other parts of Northern Nigeria.

“The Ogige-Nsukka market predates by decades the independence of Nigeria and has grown and spurned other satellite markets. Ogige-Nsukka market is the 2nd biggest market in Enugu state and like Onitsha Market, is both host and destination of choice for buyers and sellers from its immediate constituency, particularly but not limited to students of the UNN and people from other parts of Nigeria and beyond.

“It is through happenings after the unfortunate demolition of that market that the contradictions and conflations in the statements and actions of the Enugu state government are painfully and disgracefully unfolding with rapidity.

“The Enugu state government claimed that it had resettled the traders of the Ogige Nsukka market. The falsehood in this statement is laid bare by the presence, every day, of hundreds of traders whose shops were destroyed as they mill around the grounds of the destroyed market, daily, hawking goods that a few weeks ago they dispensed from their own shops securely and with dignity. If really the state government allocated shops to them, why would they prefer to mill around the destroyed market, in the circumstances of utter degradation and humiliation?”, he stressed.