From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Media adviser to Senator Rochas Okorocha, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot to demolish his private residence in Owerri.
Onwuemeodo, in a statement, yesterday, said his house has already been marked for demolition by the Owerri Capital Development Agency (OCDA).
Onwuemeodo noted that he was yet to be told reasons by the agency why it wants to bring down the house he has been living in for over eight years.
His statement reads in part: “I, Sam Onwuemeodo, wish to inform the general public that the Governor of Imo State, Chief Hope Uzodinma, and his government, have marked the house where I have been living with my family, for demolition.
“As I write, nobody has told me the reason for marking my house for demolition, whether the house was illegally acquired, or whether the house distorted the Owerri Master Plan, or whether I have become Sam Onwuemeodo nee Okorocha, or whether I have become another son-in-law of Rochas Okorocha. I have not known or been told the reason for my house to be marked for demolition.
“On Friday, March 19, 2021, someone called and told me to be very careful, that the government has decided to demolish my house; that by Tuesday, March 23, 2021, my house would be marked for demolition. And to avoid making it look personal, they would also mark other houses around my own.
“I didn’t take the information seriously because I could not fathom any reason the government would want to demolish my house, except, perhaps, my serving in the government of Okorocha as his Chief Press Secretary and now, as his Media Adviser.
“Following this information, on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, I decided not to leave the house early. By 11.22am, two hummer buses with tinted glasses came and parked in front of my gate. I decided only to watch them. The two buses were filled with young men I wouldn’t like to describe as thugs and about six hefty men in Mobile Police Uniform, fully armed.”
