A philanthropist, Mr Kaleb Ezeamagu, has expressed sadness over how hired thugs pulled down the house he is building for a 65-year-old poor blind man, Mr Amibueze Nnadi.
Ezeamagu, from Ihekwuenu Aku in Igboetiti Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State, made his feelings known on Saturday while speaking with newsmen at Aku.
While showing journalists around, Ezeamagu said the two-room apartment had been roofed before the thugs pulled it down.
“I decided to build the house for the blind man because he was living in a mud house and had neither a wife nor a child.
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He alleged that Igwe Chris Okwor, the traditional ruler of Ihekwuenu community in Aku, got thugs on Thursday to pull down the building because he claimed that the land belonged to him.
“I am from the community and I know the land belongs to Nnadi.
“Before I started building the house, I consulted elders in the community who attested that the land belonged to the blind poor man, as his forefathers also lived on that land.
“It may be because the man is poor and blind that the traditional ruler wants to take away the land from him,” he said.
Speaking in tears, Nnadi said he was surprised somebody would contemplate hiring thugs to come and destroy the house a philanthropist and a kinsman was building for him.
“I heard our traditional ruler said the land belonged to him, but that is a complete lie.
“It is it because I am blind and poor that the traditional ruler wants to take my ancestral land from me.
“I call on the government and public-spirited individuals in the society to come to my rescue by ensuring that my ancestral land is not forcefully taken away from me.
He also urged the government to ensure that the person who hired the thugs to pull down the two-bedroom house is brought to justice.
Reacting, the eldest man in the community, Mr Sylvester Okpe, described the action of the thugs as an abomination.
“The community condemns the action of whosoever is behind the pulling down of that house.
“We have started our investigation on this issue and any member of the community found guilty will be sanctioned,” he said.
Okpe said that it was Nnadi’s ancestral land as his forebears also lived there.
“Any person who says that the land doesn’t belong to Nnadi is a liar and is doing that because the man is poor and blind, “he said.
When contacted, Okwor, the traditional ruler, said that he was not aware that the building was pulled down by thugs.
He, however, said that the land in which the two-bedroom was being built for the blind man belonged to him.
“Let me tell you they are not building that house for the blind man.
“Some people are using the guise of building a house for the blind to acquire my land, ” he said. (NAN)
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