By Chinedum Treasure
Residents of Ebenesi Community in Nnobi, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Chukwuma Soludo to intervene in their disagreement with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) over an electricity power-line project.
The community staged a peaceful protest at the Obi Ezenabo Traditional Centre, displaying placards and chanting songs against the proposed demolition of houses to pave the way for the project.
Chairman of Ebenesi Community, Chief Okechukwu Oraka, and his deputy, Chief Patrick Nwanyiaku, alleged that more than six elders had died from pressure and trauma after their houses were marked for demolition.
They said officials of the Anambra State Physical Planning Board had marked houses for demolition and ordered owners to pull them down or face demolition and payment of the associated costs.
The community leaders also alleged that there was no provision for relocation, insisting that Nnobi was not part of the original plan for the project.
“We totally reject the project on the grounds that it did not initially pass through Nnobi,” Oraka said, alleging that the route was later diverted to the community.
The protesters, including youths and elderly residents, appealed for the project to be relocated to an area without residential buildings or constructed underground.
They said they were not opposed to development but insisted that residents whose homes would be affected must be adequately relocated and compensated.
An 81-year-old retired civil servant, Mrs. Comfort Ngwudo, said the community had lived on its ancestral land for generations and appealed to government to avoid policies that could cause hardship and further deaths.
Representatives of affected villages, including Comrade Staley Izuegbu, Bartholomew Ojukwu and the Secretary of Umuona Village, also called for the relocation of the project or an underground alternative.
The protesters later took their grievances to Awuda and Ngo quarters, where the traditional ruler of Nnobi, Igwe Engineer Nick Obi, and President-General of Nnobi, Chief Sir Aloy Olubialu, received them.
Both leaders commended the protesters for their peaceful conduct and assured them that their grievances would be presented to the Federal and Anambra State governments for consideration.
Tags: #Nnobi #TCN #Anambra
