Demolition Illegal Structure in Uyo: The Issues

Striking Point
With Saviour Ekpe

The word structure means Permanent building erected for a specific purpose. The word structure is derived from two Latin words, structura meaning “act of building” and struere, meaning “to build”. The word, illegal structure naturally means, “buildings that are not approved by relevant body saddled with the responsibility of granting such approval.

Please, permit Striking Point of this week to act like a grammar school teacher. There is another word called, temporal structure, which is refers to a structure, container or item kept in a particular place for period of time which could be dismantled or relocate to another place at any point in time.

From the earlier explanations, the action of Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA) may be said to have not put so many things into consideration. This action, energy and effort would have rather been exerted on buildings within Uyo that were erected without approved Plans  and  or those buildings that must have encroached into the right of way or erected beyond its approved limit.

Those caravans or containers destroyed in Uyo metropolis in the name of illegal structures are nothing but misplaced priority of Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA). Aside this, the authority which  gave only one week to owners  of those containers to evacuate them, which later were demolished by the  use of pay loaders sounded militarily. Probably, this was done in order to sanitize the city prior to the  coming of Mr. President, Dr. Godluck Jonathan to the state  but unfortunately, the capital city was defaced beyond measure as those demolished illegal structures could not be evaluated after demolition, unfortunately even till this present moment.

In as much as Striking Point is not against sanitizing Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State Capital, temporal structures should have been demolished whenever there is need to site any developmental projects, construct roads, build permanent structures or where such temporal structures cause nuisance or environmental hazards to the society.

Today, the good that the authority sought to achieve has turned to a very pathetic and lamentable situation as many families whose livelihood anchored on the content of those containers are cut off since the demolition exercise began. Worst still, goods inside those containers were destroyed along Side with the containers since occupants of those containers were yet to empty them.  Regrettably,  not fewer than three people have been reported  (not Century Newsfront ) to have committed suicide as a result of the shock since most of them obtained loan from banks, organization and other financial Institutions to construct those containers, stocked in goods  with an aim to drive away hunger from their homes.

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