Landlords, Residents of Egbeadokhai Street Resist Demolition Attempt by NEWMAP

 

🖋️ Enaholo J.K.
auchiblog@gmail.com
+2348069055018

A demolition exercise supposedly attempted by NEWMAP around the Egbeadokhai axis of Öluèdide village of Auchi Sacred Kingdom was foiled on Saturday by residents of the quarter.

Drama began when the people spotted an approaching bulldozer at the Momoh Primary School part of the area. On getting the info of the intended demolition exercise to be carried out on selected buildings in the area, landlords, residents and business owners staged a wall, barricaded the road in view of dissuading the operator of the bulldozer from coming closer to their houses.

It should be recalled that in September 2021 NEWMAP attempted to claim ownership of properties in the said area having completed the erosion control project (in correction of the massive gully that hitherto troubled the area) stating that landlords have been paid off before the commencement of work in the area.
In response to this claim, the people (residents and landlords of the area) debunked the claim stating that what they got was palliatives for temporary relocation at the time the project was being done.

Speaking on behalf of landlords and residents of the affected area, Mr. Tee told newsmen that though NEWMAP claimed to have settled owners of the affected houses, it was not logical for the body to come unannounced to demolish their properties without notice and or protocols.
He stated that even the payments NEWMAP claims it paid was for temporary relocation and that the matter was in court where a restraining order was handed NEWMAP and the state Government pending when the case is decided.

"for we the residents of this area to wake up to a demolition attempt by NEWMAP this morning is illegal since the case is in court and was adjourned till the 25th of January 2022 when the lawyer representing NEWMAP and the said body failed to show up" a resident said.

A source while speaking to AUCHI BLOG & SERVICES stated that claims by NEWMAP wherein it is stated that they paid the landowners off are false and cannot be verified since such payments were not commensurate with the value of the properties being claimed.
Speaking on the basis of anonymity, he said NEWMAP later claimed that they paid certain percentages and came to mark the affected houses with the percent they paid.

"There is no documentation of any valuer's valuation of the said properties being claimed here. If there was any, no landlord or property owner was brought into the know. As a property owner here, there was never a time when I and representatives of NEWMAP had any conversation around the actual value of my property nor was there any agreement on whether my property would be claimed by same after repairing the gully." He said.

"In all these back and forth with NEWMAP, Edo State Government and the people of Öluèdide village in Auchi, the question on our lips is, was the gully not repaired so that the people who lived there won't loss their properties and lives to the gully?
Now that a lot has been done to control erosion in the area, why are the people who are supposed to enjoy this new development now being chased forcibly off their properties?" a passerby asked while driving through the area.
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