Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has given reason why the church premises of controversial preacher, Chukwuemeka Odumeje, was demolished.
Mr Odumeje, aside from having the structure of his church bulldozed, was manhandled by security personnel during the demolition, a viral social media clip showed Thursday afternoon.
Explaining the reason why his taskforce team demolished the church building in a statement on Thursday by his spokesman, Christian Aburime, the governor said the cleric and other property owners refused to adhere to the directive of the state government that the illegal structures be removed.
The structures are said to be blocking drainage channels around the metropolitan city.
“Following the expiration of the more than two months’ notice, beginning from April 2022, served on developers and building owners who built several illegal structures along the waterway in Fegge and environs within Onitsha, Anambra State Government has begun the demolition of such structures,” he said.
“The structures were marked since April 2022 and all developers and building owners were served notice to remove such illegal structures,” Mr Soludo added.
Silent on manhandling
The governor was silent on the manhandling of the popular cleric alleged to have attempted to halt the team from demolishing the church building located at Bida road, Fagge, Onitsha.
The act of the taskforce team has drawn widespread condemnation, particularly on social media.