Indigenes of Ebenesi Community in Nnobi, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Tuesday protested against the planned demolition of their ancestral homes to make way for a power line project.
The protesters appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to intervene in the disagreement between the community and the Transmission Company of Nigeria over the project.
The community members, who staged the protest at the Obi Ezenabo Traditional Centre, Ebenesi, alleged that more than six elders had collapsed and died following the marking of their houses for demolition by officials of the Anambra State Physical Planning Board.
They claimed that the officials had ordered affected landlords to demolish their houses within 14 days or have the structures demolished by the government, with the owners allegedly required to bear the cost.a
Oraka also alleged that the power line project was diverted to Nnobi after it was originally planned to pass through other areas.
He said, “Nnobi came into this TCN power line project through foul means. Nnobi was not captured in the original plan of that project; it was diverted to Nnobi by some people who feel that we have nobody to speak for us both in the Federal and state governments.
“Ebenesi is highly populated and we don’t have land, and now the state government is forcing us to vacate our ancestral homes with no plan of relocating us. That is impossible. We will relocate to anywhere in this Nnobi if they provide a place for us.
“We are not actually against development projects and infrastructure, but what we are saying is that in providing such infrastructure, the people that will enjoy them must live to enjoy them. If any infrastructure is provided and the people to enjoy it are sent into extinction, what is the need?”
Oraka said the community had occupied the area for more than 200 years, adding that the government should consider alternative arrangements if the project must pass through Nnobi.
“I have travelled and lived overseas; power lines do not pass through residential areas, and there was never a time, since over 200 years our forefathers who bequeathed this land were told not to build their houses because a power line project would pass through here,” he said.
“So it is not possible for us to relocate. The best they can do if the project must go on is to pass the lines underground.”
