Rochas please spare our ancestral home - Family begs

THE Ishiguzo family of Umuoyima, Owerri in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State have written to the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha pleading with him to shelve his alleged plan to demolish their home located at No. 1, Mbaise Road, Owerri.

The family however requested that the state government assist them in sending away the occupants of the shop in front of the building, whom they claim are constituted nuisance and claim was the reason behind Okorocha's decision to demolish their home.

Thet governor had visited the building sometime in May 2018 and had locked some shops and tagged the building a criminal hideout and warned that he would demolish the building.

Speaking on behalf of the family, the eldest son, Mr. Emmanuel Ishiguzo said building was an ancestral family house with most members of the family living in it.

“Since it is strategically sited on Mbaise road, a major business hub in the metropolis, shops were designed to attract rent to the family,” he stated.

Ishiguzo disclosed that none of the family members had a shop in the building and pleaded with the state government to help them to evict the shop occupants.

He said, “I have served them quit notice through my lawyer, but because of the strategic position of the building, they don’t want to quit,” he stressed

“To be candid, they open the shops and stay up till 12 midnight every day,” he added.

In a letter by the family titled ‘SOS Message’ to the Director of Department of Security Services, copied to the Governor and dated, May 7, 2018, Ishiguzo said, “In spite of the governor’s order to the tenants, they have been opening their shops. They have been violating governor’s order. The Ishiguzo family has also warned, but they have kept adamant ears. They bring in bad boys that usually operate from their respective shops.

“I am using this medium on behalf of the Ishiguzo’s family to let the government know what we are passing through, what is going on presently and help us so that our house ceases to be tagged a criminal hideout and demolished.

“If government pulls out the doors of the shops for them to pack out, I am okay, provided it (government) does not demolish the building please.”

He further said that they respected the government order to remove projections in front of all the shops, adding that they support the urban renewal programme of the governor.

“We are totally supporting Governor Okorocha in his urban renewal programme. This is because when completed, it would give Owerri metropolis a facelift,” he added