Enugu State Government has demolished yet another property located at Amaebo Owelli Autonomous Community in Awgu LGA of the state, was said to be used for keeping victims of kidnapping. The state Government has warned landlords that it would not entertain any excuses in enforcing relevant laws of the state mandating the government to bring down any property linked to such evil acts.
Section 315 (Second Amendment) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 30, Laws of Enugu State provides, “If the building or structure owned by the offender or any other person, who knows or ought to reasonably know that the building or structure is so being used for that purpose, the building or structure shall be demolished or forfeited to the State Government.”
Dailypost reports have it that One of the victim who had several AK-47 riffles pointed at his head in May 2024, was recorded in the same building, but security agencies were able to track the building, rescuing the victim, while also apprehending most of the criminals and recovering a cache of arms and ammunition.
“What you see here today is the continuation of the war of the Enugu State Government against all manner of criminality. Today, we are here to take down a kidnappers’ den. The property you see us taking down right now is a place where horrendous criminal activities happened.
The Executive Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, Hon. Uche Anya explained “For instance, on 25th of May 2024, some deadly kidnappers abducted a man in Enugu, brought him here, stripped bare, even naked to his red boxers, bound him, pointed guns at him, and forced him to start talking to his family to request for money. They posted that video to his relatives.
“They held him down, but to the glory of God and the commitment of Governor Mbah, who is giving his all to security, the government and security agencies, through our state-of-the-art security system, were able to see what was happening in this rural community.
“Security agencies moved to the place. Every other person was arrested, but the kingpin escaped to Ebonyi. We tracked him to Ebonyi, and he escaped to Lagos where the Enugu State Government and the security agencies caught up with him.
Several AK-47 rifles, semi-automatic weapons and all manners of ammunition; dozens of proscribed and offensive weapons were recovered.
“Interestingly, the kingpin of the gang that did this nonsense was a member of the same gang we went after somewhere at Ogbeke Nike.
“To those who say why not convert these properties to good use, we want these to serve as a deterrent in accordance with the law. The Enugu State Government does not want anything that will remind us of the deadly criminality. We just want to put it out of our minds. We do not need to acquire a criminal’s property to use it to serve the public. We bring it down and we do our own thing. We do not want to profit from their criminality,” he stated.
“As I speak to you, the government has taken over this property. That is why we are tearing it down. The title deed is revoked. The government of Enugu State will probably put up a clinic or something that will be more beneficial to the people of Owelli Court.”
The Mbah Administration has been carrying out a demolition campaign on properties linked to kidnapping and violent crimes to serve as a deterrent, insisting that no criminal would be allowed to enjoy the proceeds of crimes in the state.
Recall that the state government had also in August demolished properties linked to kidnapping at Ogbeke Nike and Nkwubor Nike both in Enugu East LGA, recovering cache of arms and ammunition.
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