I watched in tears as UniUyo pulled down my over N10m investment – Victim

Tears, auguish and depression were visibly the expression of a victim whose business structure valued at over 10 million naira was allagedly bulldozed by the University of Uyo (UniUyo) management in Akwa Ibom state.
It was gathered that on March 11, 2021, some officials of the institution including the Chief Security Officer, identified as Asuqwo Inyang who was said to have acted on the instruction of the school authority, demolished properties located at the annex campus of the University “without proper notice to the owners”.


Blueprint learnt that business premises allegedly destroyed by the school authority were stationery shops, computer business centers, provision shops, printing press and restaurants.
One of the victims who gave her name as Mrs. Treasure Okon, who spoke with Blueprint in Uyo on Wednesday, said while she was operating her business, the officials of the University stormed her business premises with a bulldozer and demolished her business center. 
She said they destroyed her equipment worth millions of naira.


Okon, who tried to hold back tear drops from her eyes while narrating her ordeal, said the demolition has crippled her business and collapsed her entire investment which she obtained a loan from a bank to set up.
She said, “In 2010, I applied to the university authority for a space to erect a structure for my business center. They granted the request and permitted me to build and operate the business at the location since then. I have been duly paying my yearly rent and other bills (including electricity) to the authority of the institution since then, and have been observing the rules and regulations given by the authority of the Institution.


“As I was working, the university officials including the Vice-Chancellor, the Director of Administration and the Chief Security Officer came and told me that my place was illegal. I showed them all the documents the school gave to me but they said they don’t want to see them.
“Before I could realise, they used a tractor to pulldown my shop. I didn’t pick out even a pin. All the equipment in the shop was destroyed.
“They didn’t give me any prior notice that they were coming to pulldown my place. Since I had the documents complete, I didn’t believe that my place could be destroyed.
“I need compensation. The new photocopiers and the other machines we bought were all damaged and the money we have been running the business was borrowed from a bank. I do not have any other money to repay the loan and to start my life all over again.”
She said that in a bid to explain how the demolition had negatively impacted her through text messages to the Vice-Chancellor,  she was arrested and detained in police custody. 
Reacting, the school registrar, Mr Aniediabasi Udofia, said the only people affected were those who did not get direct approval from his office before erecting shops and have not been paying directly to the university coffers.


However, he said the design for a permanent structure has already been done, noting that the university would reallocate shops first to those who were legally and genuinely assigned shops earlier but were affected.