Federal authorities will apprehend and prosecute a local land speculator who mobilized bulldozers to destroy part of the current Enugu Airport upgrade infrastructure.

One John Emejulu, a local architect, mobilized bulldozers to pull down the new airport fence being put up as part of the airport rehabilitation project.

His action has threatend current efforts to rehabilitate the airport which government had promised to complete and reopen the facility by August 30.

It also gives the federal government an excuse to defer the reopening of the airport, local residents bitterly complained today.

This is a reckless action, Says Aviation Minister

“While the procurement was going on, a certain cantankerous individual by name Arch. J.J. Emejulu came with bulldozers and hundreds of armed thugs and destroyed more than 2km of our fence,” a visibly disturbed Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, said today, after inspecting the damage.

He said Emejulu made a mistake by destroying expensive public assets and would have to pay for his “unfortunate, unbecoming and unacceptable” action.

“He has given the government the opportunity to show how not to willfully destroy public asset belonging to over 200 million people,” Sirika said.

Court gave me permission, says Emejulu

An Agency report quoted Emejulu to have claimed that he relied on a court order given by Justice JLC Okibe of the Enugu High Court to destroy the airport fence.

The architect had gone to court to enforce his right to 400 plots of land adjoining the airport which he claims to have bought from a local Nike Community group about 12 years ago.

Today he says he is fighting to get compensation for the vast tract of land which he acquired for a purpose yet to be defined, fueling speculation that he is a land speculator.

His ownership of parts of the land were contested by members of the same community from whom he bought. Others are said to belong to areas which government says were original airport land and therefore not deserving of compensation.

Although members of the community from whom he claims to have bought the land have contested his claims in court, an Enugu High Court judge, Justice JLC Okike, however ruled in his favour.

‘He took the law into his hands, says Minister’

The Aviation, Minister expressed bitter regrets over Emejulu’s action of pulling down structures for the airport rehabilitation.

“In spite of the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to bring the airport back to its glory, with the nation’s limited resources and “at this very austere time”, to contribute to trade and commerce as well as guarantee safety of air travelers, a certain cantankerous individual appeared from nowhere with bulldozers and destroyed this national security asset.

“It is a wrong time to test our resolve. The individual will certainly be dealt with maximally without recourse.

“I am sure he will regret doing this and of course this is also an opportunity for government to show that no one can take the law into his hands and willfully destroy national asset belonging to 200 million of all of us.

“This will certainly be the end of this kind of recklessness.

“The Chief of Air Staff, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General, DSS, others, will be directed to do the needful and bring him to book, so that anybody who would contemplate doing something like this in future will have a rethink.

“We are government in place; we are not a lawless country; we are not in a Banana Republic, We are in the Federal Republic of Nigeria governed by laws.

“Certainly, this is not acceptable and I am sure that we are equal to the task of rising in defense of our national asset”, the Minister maintained.

Action angers Igbos

Emejulu’s action has also roused the anger of Igbos everywhere in the world who have been praying that government follows through with its promise to complete and open the airport within a fortnight.

A member of Ohaneze, who prefers anonymity at this time, also bemoaned the action.

 “This destruction gives the federal government an opportunity to postpone or even abandon the project altogether.

“He (Emejulu) has shown limited vision as an Igbo person and acted on wrong advice; now he is in for it,” he told Enugu Metro.

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