No fewer than 800 indigenes of Ebonyi State who were displaced by a demolition exercise in Ilaje, Lagos State, have been evacuated and returned home by the Ebonyi State government.
The demolition, reportedly carried out by the Lagos State government, targeted structures deemed illegal in Ilaje, leaving many residents, including Ebonyi indigenes, stranded.
Upon receiving reports of the situation, Governor Francis Nwifuru directed the immediate evacuation of affected Ebonyi people.
Last week, the state government deployed coaster buses to Lagos, bringing back over 800 individuals, including men, women, and children as young as three and four years old.
According to the PUNCH, Chief Valentine Okike, the Focal Person for Ebonyi people in the diaspora and Commissioner for Special Duties, confirmed the development inAbakaliki on Monday.
“We were officially informed on Monday that Ebonyi people in Ilaje, Lagos Island, Lagos were displaced, and our governor, Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru, ordered that I should go and bring them to our dear state. I went to Lagos and brought them back,” Okike said.
Describing the dire conditions in which the displaced persons were found, he added, “It was an eyesore seeing small children below three, four years living in an open place, under the bridge.
“These people really went through hardship, and it was on that basis that the governor said, ‘No, I will not allow my people to continue to suffer,’ and immediately mandated me to bring them back home.”
He noted that while people from other states were also affected by the demolition, Ebonyi was the only state that took proactive steps to evacuate its displaced indigenes.
“I can authoritatively tell you that for those of them that wanted to come back, all of them are back home.
“It is not only Ebonyi people whose properties were demolished; there were others from different states. But I can tell you that it is only the Ebonyi State government that took that proactive measure by bringing them back home. I understand what the governor was trying to avoid because he believes in good governance,” Okike stated.
