Firm demands compensation over demolished building

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerian Company Food Affairs Limited, Mr. Isidore Ebong, has called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to immediately pay compensation for demolishing the company’s building. The shopping complex, situated on No.1 Uyo Road, Ikot Ekpene in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, was said to have been […]

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerian Company Food Affairs Limited, Mr. Isidore Ebong, has called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to immediately pay compensation for demolishing the company’s building.

The shopping complex, situated on No.1 Uyo Road, Ikot Ekpene in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, was said to have been demolished by the state government on the June 27, as part of effort to construct the Ikot Ekpene Road.

The solicitor to Mr. Ebong, Godwin U. Oyong, Head of Practice, G. U. Oyong & Co., alleged that a former Commissioner for Works, Ephraim Inyang Eyen, with a mass force comprising civil servants of the Ministry of Works, Uyo, soldiers and mobile policemen, “at 11:30am of 27th June, 2019, ordered his invading army comprising bulldozers to smash two large silent generators, fence wall and proceeded to bring down to rubble the main purpose built eatery on two floors and other bungalows that make up the complex.”

Mr. Oyong said his client had made effort to get his compensation once he heard that government had commenced payment of compensation on their part of the road from Ikot Ekpene, but the payment consultant has been avoiding him.

“Preliminary inquiries have shown that N100m worth of properties and equipment were crushed into dust and several jobs lost and the owners are in great pain, trauma and fear for the future.

He further said a petition had been sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the human rights community in Nigeria and abroad.