Rita Odafe
According to SaharaReporters, some Nigerian soldiers have caused serious panic in Enugu.They allegedly invaded the Enugu residence of a retired army officer, Emeka Ugwuoke and evicted his family.
The soldiers are from the 82 Division Enugu. They are said to be acting on orders of the General Officer Commanding, GOC, Nigeria Army, 82 Division, Enugu, Major General, Aminu Chinade.
Addressing journalists, Colonel Ugwuoke (retd.) disclosed that the property had been monetised to him by his colleague, ‘Enugu state government’, adding that he has the necessary papers but the GOC refused to attend to him concerning the acquisition of the property.
Regretting the incident, Ugwuoke said the soldiers invaded his home when he was not around, manhandled and threw out his family at an ungodly time of the night.
He said, “Sometime in 2008, the Enugu state government wanted to take over the state property that Nigerian Army personnel were occupying and I am living in one of them. I wanted to benefit from it and the division said I should meet my state so that if they give me, that’s okay.
“I wrote several applications to the state government and in 2013, the then governor, Sullivan Chime approved my application. I couldn’t further the process because I was away until 2015 and that was in a critical period when attention was drawn to politics only. When the new governor came, he said I should hold on, and that there were a series of committees to verify those things, which eventually ended and I was given papers for the apartment.
“My colleagues understood until 2020 when a certain GOC came around and told me that he wanted to use the place as a guest house, and now started claiming that it belonged to the Federal Government but the matter was addressed and he left it. He set up a series of committees that said the property belonged to the Federal Government but we know he was influenced by them.
“nothing was heard again until November 2022 when the GOC sent 20 soldiers to my house to come and remove my things but after some intervention from senior colleagues, they left. On March 15, 2023, they wrote to me and asked me to pack out within two weeks, despite presenting the papers and approvals from the state to them.
“As
