12th May, 2024
Hoodlums have again, attacked and demolished a 67-year-old visually impaired man’s house, Anibeze Nnadi from Awoke-Agana family in Uwani-Otobo, Umuezike Aku in Igbo-Etiti LGA of Enugu State.
The hoodlums were said to have arrived at Nnadi’s house in their numbers at midnight when he was asleep. They shot sporadically in the air, attacked and brought him outside before demolishing the house.
Speaking to newsmen on Sunday in Enugu on the development, Nnadi accused the son of the suspended traditional ruler of the community, Prince Uzochukwu Okwor, of being responsible for the attack.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uzochukwu’s father, Igwe Christopher Okwor, was on September 2021, suspended by the Enugu State Government for allegedly demolishing a two bedroom building belonging to Nnadi, a house built for him by Ezemagu family over land issues.
Nnadi, who said that he had no issues with anyone, wondered why he had become a subject of attack.
“I am not quarrelling with anybody but they frequently attack me.
“I was in my house on Tuesday when I heard gun shots but before I knew it, they started beating me, drag me outside and demolished my house.
“This is the sixth time they are demolishing my house that good Samaritans built for me.
“The land they built on belongs to me,” he said.
Nnadi, who said he had been suffering from serious body pains since the incident, appealed to Enugu State Government to come to his aid and build him another house.
The eldest man in Ezemagu family, Chief Daniel Ezemagu, said that the perpetrators carried out the act because the blind man had nobody to speak for him.
“We could not resist the attack because they came with guns and other weapons and were shooting everywhere.
“I want peace and I want Enugu State Government to help us achieve that peace by allowing truth to prevail,” he said.
Ezemagu further said that the continuous delay by the Enugu State Government to release report of its panel of enquiry on the matter was contributing to the suffering of the victim and causing breakdown of law and order.
He described the act as painful, stressing that they were suspecting Okwor’s son to have perpetrated the demolition.
He hinted that the community was planning for peace on Sunday but they came on Tuesday and demolished the place, leaving Nnadi homeless.
“I don’t know their interest in the matter. Government should help us to unravel those behind the demolition as we now live in fear,” he appealed.
Reacting, Okwor’s son, Prince Ugonna Okwor, said no member of the royal family had been attacking anybody.
He said that all the allegations were untrue and a ploy by Nnamdi Ezemagu to tarnish the image of the royal family.
According to him, there are several pending cases in court; they destroyed the building themselves and run to the media to seek sympathy.
“They have seen that my father is about to be reinstated by the Enugu State Government and came up with the demolition allegations.
“We agreed that everybody should build their own and that nobody should touch one another’s buildings but they continue building and demolishing and run to police to intimidate my younger brother.
“There is no blind man connection to the ownership of the land in suits in court,” Okwor said.
According to him, Nnadi had a house which they say was inhabitable for him.
“Why can’t they build in his old house they demolished but prefer going to the land that is in contention to build for him?” he asked.
When contacted, Nnamdi Ezemagu stated that allegations by Okwor were false and a calculated attempt to divert the attention of the public from the criminal activity of his brothers and their gang.
He said that one Kenechukwu Ani was arrested and confessed to the crime of demolishing Nnadi’s house in 2021 through the connection of Uzochukwu Okwor and his father.
(NAN)