Indigenes, residents and business men and women in Owerri, are at the receiving end of the Imo State Government onslaught again, courtesy of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s urban renewal programme.

•This is Douglas Road as demolition continued.

As the time of going to press, Rotobi Street, as well as Douglas, Mbaise, Wetheral, Christ Church and School Roads have come under the blade of government’s earth moving machines.

Apart from the foregoing, movement of people on especially the Douglas Road, has been restricted. Similarly, all the commercial banks operating along this ever busy and commercial nerve centre of Owerri, have remained under lock and key, in the past two weeks.

Professor Chinedu Asinu-Anosike, after taking a walk through the affected demolition areas and possibly interacting with some of the victims, summed up his feelings thus: “The man who killed 10-year old Somtochukwu Ibeanusi to demolish the owerri market; this man who is now chasing Imo women and traders with thugs off Douglas Road and destroying their wares, was the same man who ate corn drank sachet water and hugged the same women and traders, on the same Douglas Road and begged for their votes, is now wearing bullet proof in fear of these same commoners who voted for him, because he has robbed them of their daily bread. He has taken their lands, shops and hopes. He has murdered sleep and is now sleeping with one eye open.”

This was the mood of the indigenes, traders and residents of the municipality as the machines deployed by the state government kept rumbling for days. People watched helplessly and haplessly as several armed policemen, personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence provided security for the machine operator.

Also on ground were scores of red-eyed thugs, who were clutching assorted weapons, including knives, daggers, axes, irons and sticks. They all trooped through Douglas Road, Rotobi and Oguamanam Streets, unchallenged.

Concrete barricades have been placed at Ama JK, Emmanuel College axis of Douglas Road and in front of Hausa Quarters. This has served as an effective check to motorists, from plying the road.

•TIn front of Kez Plaza, Douglas Road, Owerri

Apart from this, certain classes of commercial vehicles have been banned from entering the city centre. This has left scores of commuters stranded, as no driver wanted to risk having his vehicle impounded. People are now forced to trek long distances to and from their homes.

The worst hit are school children and their mothers who must take them to school and back, everyday. Many of the wearied children had several stops on their way home, to have some rest before continuing. They all had tales of woe to tell about this development.

As if the suffering was not strong enough, government task forces were seen chasing vehicles for varying reasons, including but not limited to failing to paint their cabs and buses and flouting the government order of not driving into the municipality. The touts were found unleashing unimaginable brutality on the alleged erring drivers.

Passengers in any impounded commercial vehicle are forced to disembark and none of them gets a refund for the truncated trip.

As at the time of going to press, prices of goods and services have increased. While it costs N200 instead of the previous N100, to move from Ama JK to Coca Cola Junction, a similar trip to Orji and World Bank Hiusing Estate has also been hiked to N200 and sometimes more.

Events have shown that Imo has turned into a town where brute force has become the order of the day.

In his own reaction, Governor Okorocha’s former appointee, Chief Uche Onyeagucha said that “Imo has been turned into a jungle where rascality and use of brutal force have become the grand norm”.

He also regretted that the present administration whose constitutional responsibility is to protect life and property of the citizenry, have unfortunately declared war on the people.

Continuing, Onyeagucha said that “it is only a clueless government, like this present administration that does not know that inner city roads are not meant to be too wide.”

However, reacting to the myriad of scathing criticisms trailing the destructions and dislocation of of the people’s means of livelihood, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mr. Samuel Onwuemeodo, claimed that those opposed to the exercise, are anti-change elements.

“They are enemies of the state. They have no good intentions. They are allergic to positive change. They want the state to remain as it was, when it was created in 1976”, Onwuemeodo said.