Soldiers from the 82 Division, Enugu at the early hours of Wednesday, invaded the residence of a former coordinator Of Joint Intelligence Fusion Cell of operation Hadarin Daji, Zamfara State , Colonel Emeka Ugwoke {rtd} and ejected his children and aides.
Although the retired army officer travelled to Nsukka, his home town for the Easter celebration, sources said the presence of soldiers numbering about 40 instilled fear in his children as they were armed.
The source stated that the soldiers also took Ugwoke’s properties to the front of a shop suspected to be owned by his wife.
But a source in 82 Division, Enugu who spoke on condition of anonymity insisted that the retired colonel was occupying the quarter illegally, saying they knew he would like to seek sympathy hence their decision to record everything that happened.
The source claimed that Ugwoke was ejected last year and he refused to leave , adding that the army will not accept somebody trying to acquire its property illegally.
“Why can’t the retired Colonel respect himself and quit the property rather than seeking unnecessary sympathy,” he stated.
Addressing journalists on the development, Ugwoke expressed surprise over the development, claiming that the state government had already allocated the said property located at No 7 Abakiliki Road in an estate inside GRA, Enugu to him.
He stated that the property was among the properties belonging to the state government that were used by the army, adding that when the state government wanted to take over the properties, he wrote them a letter for ownership of the property.
The former military officer noted that the letter was duly approved by the state government and expressed surprise over the claim that the property belonged to the federal government.
He noted that in 2020 when a senior military officer claimed that the property belonged to the federal government, the matter was resolved amicably after interventions.
The former army officer said the army wrote him a letter on March 15 informing him that he should vacate the house in two weeks’ time, stating that it was unfortunate that armed soldiers later invaded his house when he was not around and asked his children to leave.
He claimed that when his wife, who was also not around when the soldiers invaded his house, ran back to their house to find out what was going on, she was allegedly manhandled by some female soldiers.
Ugwoke stated that soldiers destroyed his properties and kept some at a roadside that is two kilometers from his house, adding that he was trying to reach out to the state government on the issue.
He said he had written to the Chief of Army Staff asking him to intervene, insisting that the state has monetized the property to him.
He, however, said it was unfortunate that while he was still waiting for the intervention of the Chief of Army Staff, the soldiers stormed his residence.
“Sometimes 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, that there are a series of committees to verify those things, which eventually ended and I was given papers of 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 belongs to the federal government but the matter was addressed and he left it. He set up a series of committees that said the property belongs to the Federal Government but we know he was influencing them.
“Nothing was heard again until November last year when 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 park out within 2 weeks, despite my presentation of papers and approvals from the state.
“As I travelled to village for burial yesterday, April 11, by 1:15am this morning, April 12, my daughter called me because my wife was not around, she was in the hospital and my daughter said that about 40 soldiers invaded our house and trying to forcefully open the door before my house help open the door. They were harassing and beating my children telling them to park their things.
“They started packing my things outside, you can see them here before my wife drove from the hospital around 2:00am and two female soldiers beat her up on her arrival, dragging her to go out of the compound.
“I tried to make a call to them to know the problems, I have written to the Chief of Army Staff and I have not gotten a response. Why are you invading my house and nobody is ready to listen to me? I came down to Enugu from Nsukka this morning to the greatest surprise of my life, soldiers invaded my house and destroyed my properties, you can see the air condition, television, everything destroyed and they came and keep it here on the street, 2km away from my house,” he stated.
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