Mixed reactions trail demolition of Ben Okoro’s house.
2 min read
For some days now, the personal house of the late Chief Ben Okoro, a popular and no-nonsense businessman who died in November 2019, has been undergoing an aggressive demolition. The demolition exercise was carried out in order to pave way for the new edifice the children of the late businessman had built, just directly behind the main building since his death was announced a couple of months ago.
The demolition which was completed on Friday last week indeed created mixed reactions among onlookers who watched a bulldozer bulldoze the entire building within two hours.
When Umuaka Times visited the scene when the demolition was going on, a man who stood beside the Umuaka Times reporter was overheard condemning the exercise as he asked to no one in particular, “why demolish this fine building? Why not convert it to a commercial building?”
Another fellow who was passing by but was attracted to the scene when he noticed the presence of the bulldozer and numerous onlookers at the scene lamented to Umuaka Times and made a personal wish. “How I wish this house can be carried from here to my village. There I will put tenants in it and make some money. Nwanne, I really need something like this.”
There were also some other people who argued that the demolished house could have been converted to an event centre where people would hold ceremonies and political meetings, while others said that a part of the building would have been left instead of demolishing the entire building.
There were also some people who displayed their joy over the demolition. While speaking to Umuaka Times, some of the onlookers thanked the family and children of the late businessman for effecting the demolition exercise because in their own view, the building was almost in the middle of the road.
The demolition of the house created a huge business for some people, especially the Hausa people who buy iron and aluminium materials. Wooden materials, iron rods and other items that were extracted from the building before the demolition were all converted into a huge commercial venture while the debris from the building were taken to Umuezikoha Umuezeala Road to sand fill the bad spots of the road.
