By Willie Amadi
After 1 year of mental and political incarceration by the government of Imo State for various alleged and confirmed atrocities, unaccounted wealth as Special Adviser to the Governor, the notorious Chinasa Nwaneri was recalled through intervention and blackmail. His return to public service and or second chance by the Governor seems to have become the " REVENGE OF BRUCE LEE".
I recall my appeal to the Governor to tamper justice with mercy on the social media for the simple reason that he may have acted in excitement or ignorance of both education and governance modules. I have been proved wrong and I sincerely appologise to the State for that intervention which drew reproach from those who knew him better during the OTOKOTO days in Owerri. I also intervened because he grew up in Owerri and unknown to me slept in the bar of my sitting room at 141 Adetola Street, Surulere residence in 1995 for more than 4 months. My siblings would smuggle him into the flat by 10pm when I have gone to bed and he will sneak out before I wake up, only to return to eat and take his bath when I have gone to office or court.
It was this emotional concern of his relationship with my younger brothers Joe and Hon. Clinton that prompted my intervention when he was disgraced out of office.
Today he has started again. His reappointment as Special Adviser to the Governor on Monitoring and Compliance is being used against those who jubiliated when he was removed from office. The claim of ridding the Municipal of criminal hide outs have been used as a cover to intimidate enemies, extort huge monies, using the Governor's name in all the cases.
He has a private taskforce that gives huge bills to owners of shanties, some of which have been deliberately branded as criminal hide outs. These outfits are forced to pay as much as N250,000.00 into or three installments in advance through the taskforce to avoid demolition of their business premises. On many streets in Owerri recently like Dick Tiger, Aladima road, New Owerri and others, a drive along these areas will present a selective demolition of shops based on advance payments. Those who paid and are paying have their shops standing. Those who cannot afford to pay or refused to to pay lost the entire shop sometimes with their wares looted by his taskforce leaving pains and anguish in this austere time.
I have been inuaudated with calls and complaints by citizens who still believe that I am incharge of environment as the Chief Technical Adviser on Environment or aware of these activities as someone who is part of the current government, a respected son of the soil and a former ENTRACO enforcer.
At Chukwuma Nwoha by MCC road junction for example, the entire trees numbering about 11 were cut down to create space for a prospective customer who bought two upstairs facing Aladima road which he intends to convert to a Supermarket. So to create room for a large car parking space for the proposed Supermarket, the entire area was bulldozed for a huge price, including all the beautiful trees I planted in 2008 on a fake claim that the place is used as criminal hideouts for smoking of Indian hemp and nkpuru nmiri. The question is:
Granted that the place is a criminal hideout, do the criminals smoke, Indian hemp and nkpuru nmiri on top of the trees that were cut down without common sense ?
The blood money paid for cutting those trees to pave way for parking space for the proposed Supermarket is a great disservice to the State and the serene environment provided by the entire space used as horticultural garden since 2008 by Barr. Mrs Izugbokwe as approved by the government. God help us !
Imo State has developed in infrastructures, particularly the road network. The MCC by Chukwuma Nwoha and Aladima axis is a beauty to behold after the Governor's great intervention, coupled with the innovative Balloon Technology which stopped the terrible flooding of Aladima, Prefab, Federal Housing and surroundings. Why must Chinasa Nwaneri destroy these natural ascetic space because of blood money ?
As a private citizen who planted those trees in 2007-11 and an environmentalist, I have briefed my lawyers to bring an action against Chinasa Nwaneri for the unlawful destruction of those trees and the environment which tax payers money was used to plant. Miscreants must be taken into account for their actions in public service henceforth. Enough of these nonsense.
*Willie Amadi
LL.B, BL, LL.M, Ph.D Law. Pioneer General Manager, Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRACO).
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