The demolition of properties and assets owned by Igbos in Lagos has continued to attract condemnations and anger, with groups and individuals faulting the rationale behind it.

In its reaction, the Association of Igbo Town Unions(ASITU) expressed disappointment with the federal government’s indifference and “ominous silence” on the plight of Igbo property owners in Lagos.

The leadership of ASITU, made the association’s stance known at a press conference in Umuahia.

They described the demolition policy as discriminatory, callous, and done without due process, adding that FG has no reason to stay aloof given that the action of Lagos State government was a threat to national unity.

President of ASITU, Chief Emeka Diwe, who addressed journalists, alleged that the systematic demolitions had commenced in February with the destruction of trading plazas owned by Igbos at Ebute Ero market.

He stated that the demolitions shifted to the Trade Fair Complex in September, “with much intensity as agents of the Lagos State government continued the destruction of Igbo livelihoods and economic survival.”

“Our people in Lagos are in agony. They are suffering; they are crying,” Diwe said, adding that the economic wound inflicted on Ndigbo “is so painful and we want the world to hear our cry, we want the world to feel our pain”.

He said the reasons adduced by the Lagos State government for wreaking havoc in Igbo properties and assets ring hollow, as the way and manner the demolitions were done smacked of being politically motivated.

“We do not dispute the government’s right to ensure orderly urban development. What we dispute, and what we categorically reject, is the selective, discriminatory, and often extrajudicial manner in which these demolitions have been carried out.”

He argued that, “many of the demolished properties had valid approvals issued by the very same Lagos State government that later turned around and destroyed them.

“Owners who followed due process, who paid their fees, who waited for stamps and signatures (of approvals), now stand amid ruins, asking one simple question: ‘why?’

The ASITU leader stated the destruction of Igbo-owned properties in Lagos undermines the quest for nation building, national unity, peace and cohesion.

“It is necessary to speak plainly about something that weighs down every Igbo: our people love Nigeria. Let no one doubt this. Let no one twist our cries for justice into calls for secession.

“We have built Nigeria. In every corner of this nation, room Sokoto to Calabar, from Maiduguri to Badagry, you will find Ig o men and women who have invested not just their money, but their very lives into the Nigerian dream,” he added.

He queried: “How do we build one Nigeria when citizens are afraid to invest outside their ethnic homelands? How do we preach unity when investments in one state becomes a liability rather than an asset? How do we achieve economic development when productive enterprise is destroyed without due process?”

ASITU profusely thanked Yorubas that have stood against injustice. (THISDAY)