The Abia State Government on Saturday commenced the demolition of structures erected by illegal occupants on the land belonging to Government College, Umuahia.
Speaking during the demolition exercise, the general manager of Umuahia Capital Development Authority, UCDA, Kingsley Agomoh, said the exercise serves as a warning to those who are fond of encroaching on government land.
Agomoh explained that the Abia State government handed over the Government College Umuahia to the institution’s Old Boys association with a certificate of occupancy and wondered why some individuals will still embark on selling government land, stressing the need for people to properly enquire before purchasing plots of land.
He further explained that the occupants of the encroached land were duly served notice before the demolition. Structures standing on the encroached areas now belong to the Government College, Umuahia, he said.
The chairman of Umuana Ndume lbeku, Friday Ohaeri, explained that the encroached land belongs to the Government College Umuahia, pointing out that their forefathers voluntarily donated the land to government.
He said those who encroached on the land did so for selfish interests, not on behalf of the Umuana Community.
The Second National Vice President of Government College Umuahia Old Boys Association, Eze Justice Chinonyerem Uwaka, recalled that the encroached areas in the school were the places that used to be the college farmland.
He explained that they had in the past asked the illegal occupants to leave the area, but they claimed that the land was sold to them by the people of Umuana.
Uwaka maintained that the state government handed over the school to the Old Boys of Government College for educational development with the Certificate of Occupancy, pointing out that the exercise will serve as a warning to others.
Newspot recalls that the Abia State Government recently set up a committee to recover about 180 school lands that were allegedly taken over by individuals.
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