By Godfrey Ofurum, in Aba
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Traders feel scammed by Abia State government
Shop owners in the popular Ariaria International Market and Ahia-Ohuru (New Market), Aba, Abia State, whose shops were demolished by the state government for remodelling, have expressed fear that they may not get their shops back when the projects are completed.
This is because of the inability of the government to complete the projects at the agreed time, as well as the increase in the price of the shops.
Abia State government in May 2021 demolished lines 1, 2 and 3 at Ahia-Ohuru with the promise to hand over the remodelled shops back to their original owners within a few months.
Also in September 2021, Lines A, B and Medicine Lines at the Ariaria International Market, were demolished for remodelling with the promise to hand over remodelled shops to the traders by December, 2021.
However, as at August 2022, the contractors are still sourcing funds to execute the project, thereby stalling its realisation.
The shop owners said that the inability of the government to keep to its promises has raised doubts about its sincerity to complete and hand over the shops to their original owners.
This has raised suspicion among the traders, who now believe that the government deliberately collected their shops, demolished them and is indirectly taxing them to remodel the shops, which they claim would be allotted to government cronies, as compensation for their loyalty.
Cletus Okorie, former chairman, Ariaria Medicine Line, alleged that the Abia State government had no intention of reconstructing and returning A-Line Shops to their original owners.
According to him, the intention of the government is to collect the shops from their owners and hand them over to their cronies.
“They took over that place last year, on the pretence that the area was flood prone and that with the reconstruction, they will stop the flooding. But till today, they have not done anything to remove the flood. If you come to the A-line, you will notice that the line is now like a river.
“Now, you can no longer go to the government to negotiate anything about those shops. They have sold it to the bank and the bank is now fully in charge of that section of the market.
Invariably they have bargained with the bank and taken their share upfront. It is the bank that is telling us to pay N5 million per shop, while our agreement with the State is N1.5 million per shop.
“Some of the contractors who won the contract have no money to execute the project. They just demolished the place and abandoned it,” he lamented.
Okorie explained that the situation has made life difficult for all the affected traders, noting that many traders who owned more than two shops in the affected lines do not have any other means of survival for the 11 months their shops were demolished.
Meanwhile, the Abia State government, through the Ministry of Trade and Investment, denied the allegations by the traders at both the Ariaria International Market and the Ahia-Ohuru, describing such allegations as politically motivated to achieve only political gain.
Michael Egwu, permanent secretary, in the state’s Ministry of Trade and Investment, said that all the allegations against the government by the traders are false and baseless.
“I’m not a politician. I’m a permanent secretary of the ministry, so I don’t have anything to hide from the press. I’m telling you clearly, as the man in charge of the ministry, that all these allegations are false,” Egwu said.
He continued, “How can a government that is superintending over the construction of a particular project stand on it and say we’re not going to continue and we’ll use it against those who are not going to vote for us? That is not workable.
“If the rainy season and delay in funds affected the project, does that take us to the argument that the government probably doesn’t want to complete the project? That’s a no. Go to Ariaria, work is ongoing.”
Egwu said that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu had approved a four-man professional committee that will go to all the sites to supervise, adding, “We have architects, we have engineers and all the professionals, who are consultants on their own.
“Governor assembled them to ensure that the jobs that are being done there will stand the test of time and outlive the generation that’s to come. At least up to 100 years.
“So those allegations are baseless. We have already done verification to know the original owners of the shops in Line-1, Ahia-Ohuru. Go there and see the appreciable work done there. What are they talking about?
“So these allegations are politically motivated. There’s nothing like N5 million. Ask them what the memorandum of understanding (MoU) is. The MoU with them is N1.5 million, of which the governor promised that he will give them subvention of N500,000, while they will pay N1 million.”
