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By Madu Obi
PROPERTY worth N1.5 billion were in the wee hours of Sunday, demolished at the prestigious Onitsha Sports Club, as the land dispute between the trustees of the club and Ekwerekwu family of Onitsha gets messier.
The trustees of the club have been in court for the past 12 years with an indigene of Onitsha, Barrister Harold Ekwerekwu, who was said to be claiming that the land belonged to his grandfather.
Residents of the Government Reserved Area, GRA, where the club is located said it was like a war as over 100 hoodlums woke them up and descended on the property with dangerous weapons after destroying and scaling the fence.
Among property destroyed include the recently completed one -storey building staff quarters, the ultramodern auditorium that hosts various events, which was funded by Senator Stella Oduah as her constituency project for Anambra North during her stay in the Senate, as well as over 500 trees located in the massive compound.
Following the development, many members of the club besieged the area on Sunday, expressing surprise at the level of destruction.
Addressing reporters in Onitsha, the President of Onitsha Sports Club, Chief Daniel Okafor said it was unfortunate that an individual would be so courageous to supervise the destruction of that magnitude.
According to him, Onitsha Sports Club, which was founded in 1924, is the only place that still has the green area in the whole of Anambra, which has now been destroyed.
In an emotion - laden voice, Okafor said: "With deep pain, I wish to bring to the notice of Anambra State government, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, residents of Onitsha North and South local government areas and the general public of this barbaric act.
We wish to warn the general public that Onitsha Sports Club premises is not for sale and anybody dealing with Barr Harold Ekwerekwu or any of his agents is doing so at his or her risk.
Onitsha Sports Club land is not on lease. The lawyer did not tell us the reason for this destruction. Rather, he said that he had the consent of the federal government, the Inspector General of Police and Anambra Commissioner of Police to possess it.
Following threats, we went to both the Central Police Station and the Area Command Onitsha and we were told to write a petition, which we have done.
In spite of our petition, they came by 1. 30 am to destroy many buildings and fell hundreds of trees.
We did not receive any notice, neither were we served any paper. What I know is that this matter has been pending in court for the 12 years and we wonder on whose authority he came to demolish the property.
As it stands, Onitsha Sports Club, which is one of the foremost clubs in the country has been brought to its knees as every activity has been brought to a halt."
Okafor urged Governor Chukwuma Soludo to intervene in the matter with a view to calling Ekwerekwu to order.
Although Mr. Ekwere could not be reached on Sunday, it was gathered that he had been invited to report at the Onitsha Police Area Command on Tuesday.
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