Over 40,000 residents have been displaced from their homes following the demolition of makeshift buildings at the Egede waterfront by the Rivers state government.
Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, in a statewide address on new year’s day, had said he would demolish makeshift structures found in the hotspots in the state.
However, on January 29, agents of the administration began demolition in Abba, Elechi, Nnanka, Uruala, Affikpo, Ojike, Akuzu, Egede, Soku streets in the Diobu area of the Port Harcourt City Local Government Area.
Since the demolition, over 1,000 families have been stranded in the area, as many of them were seen with belongings they could salvage from the destruction.
One of the displaced residents, identified as Esther, who spoke to TPCN, said they were not duly informed before the demolition, adding that she lost all she had due to the destruction.
The visibly distraught woman said, the little of her belongings she could salvage from the wreckage were stolen by hoodlums, who took advantage of the situation to steal.
Condemning the act, the chairman of Rivers State Civil Society Organisation, Enefaa Georgewill, described the displacement of the people in the area as man’s inhumanity to man, which reveals the insensitivity of those behind the action on residents.
Gerogewill also expressed concerns on security, explaining that serious security threats are likely to be experienced in the state in the coming days, as many young people would seek the easiest ways to survive the untold hardship levelled on them by the government.
