Angry youths of Mbiaobong Anyaya village in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Wednesday allegedly attacked the team from the Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA) for demolishing illegal structures erected at the Mbiabong junction.
Eyewitness said the youths on sighting the state government bulldozer on Wednesday demolishing some structures came out and started hurling stones at the demolition team.
It was also gathered that there was no resistance from the villagers at the beginning of the demolition of the illegal structures the previous day being Tuesday.
Sources had it that the UCCDA team demolished no fewer than 5 containers and many kiosks illegally erected along the main road the first day.
According to a resident, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity, “The UCCDA team came here on Tuesday and demolished people’s kiosks and containers. But the youths did not resist them on the first day.
“Surprisingly, this morning about 11, when the team started to pull down a bungalow that was attached beside a storey building, the youths started throwing stones and bottles at the team.
“In fact, vehicles and commercial vehicles that ply the route decided to divert to alternative streets. It was like the youths having observed the demolition on Tuesday decided to wait and attack the team today. If not for the police that started shooting in the air and scared them away, nobody knows how the situation would have ended.”
Meanwhile, a reliable source from the UCCDA, who is not authorized to speak to journalists, said some youths had resorted to stopping government from removing illegal shanties and the illegal mini market at the Mbiabong junction that were erected very close to the main Road and causing fatal accidents.
His words, “Government observed that those ramshackle, makeshift stores and kiosks erected on pedestrian walkways, under high tension wires, and the illegal market set up at the junction are not just illegal but dangerous.
“That is why accidents occur around the junction regularly (Mbiabong junction). Those illegal structures obstruct free flow of traffic and also cause fatal accident on that Road. So that is why government is saying, that should not continue. So those are the things government is demolishing and not buildings.”
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