Anambra To Demolish Illegal Structures In GRAs

The Anambra State government says it will  commence the demolition of illegal structures on government reserved layouts across the state from March 31.

The Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Town Planning, Mr Okoli Akirika, disclosed this while inspecting the Unity Layout, Nnewi.

Akirika said that the central objective was to reclaim areas encroached upon by plot owners and land speculators.

“We have received a lot of complaints that people are trespassing on government land unlawfully and unconventionally.

“Whoever feels that he/she has any interest in government estate should come along with his papers and have same either verified or rectified because we will no longer tolerate this manner of staccato development where people come in to develop indiscriminately.

“It does not pay anybody to engage in acts of rascality or illegality. We have had reasons in the past to destroy structures for this purpose because people resorted to self-help and inducement.

“You should not under the guise of non-payment of compensation or perceived abandonment of its property resort to encroaching on government land.

“We are not going to tolerate any act of unlawful trespass on government layouts, and no matter the type of structure put on ground we shall not hesitate to reduce them to rubbles.

He said that the Unity Layout, Nnewi, was government land, adding that anyone who doubted its ownership should visit the ministry to know the status of the land, and other such government plots.

Akirika, who was accompanied on the inspection tour by the Surveyor-General of the state, Mr Anthony Onwubuya, assured that government would open access roads to all layouts.

“On our part, we are here to demonstrate our readiness, capacity and ability to open up the layouts so that owners would not adduce the lack of access routes to their property as being undeveloped for more than 15 years.’’