Firm demands compensation over demolished building
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerian Company Food Affairs Limited, Mr. Isidore Ebong, has called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to immediately pay compensation for demolishing the company’s building.
The shopping complex, situated on No.1 Uyo Road, Ikot Ekpene in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, was said to have been demolished by the state government on the June 27, as part of effort to construct the Ikot Ekpene Road.
The solicitor to Mr. Ebong, Godwin U. Oyong, Head of Practice, G. U. Oyong & Co., alleged that a former Commissioner for Works, Ephraim Inyang Eyen, with a mass force comprising civil servants of the Ministry of Works, Uyo, soldiers and mobile policemen, “at 11:30am of 27th June, 2019, ordered his invading army comprising bulldozers to smash two large silent generators, fence wall and proceeded to bring down to rubble the main purpose built eatery on two floors and other bungalows that make up the complex.”
Mr. Oyong said his client had made effort to get his compensation once he heard that government had commenced payment of compensation on their part of the road from Ikot Ekpene, but the payment consultant has been avoiding him.
“Preliminary inquiries have shown that N100m worth of properties and equipment were crushed into dust and several jobs lost and the owners are in great pain, trauma and fear for the future.
He further said a petition had been sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the human rights community in Nigeria and abroad. Although real estate is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the typical American, there are still places where its possible to become a homeowner on an average income.
A report compiled by CNBC’s Make It identified 15 cities where the qualifying income to purchase a home with a 10 per cent or 20 per cent down payment is an annual salary of $60,000 or less, based on data from the National Association of Realtors’ Metropolitan Median Area Prices and Affordability index from the second quarter of 2019.
The data assumes a 4.1 per cent mortgage rate for all areas and a monthly principal and interest payment limited to 25 per cent of a resident’s income.
The report listed Cleveland, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania among the 15 cities where you can become a homeowner while earning $60,000 a year or less
Also listed were three cities in Texas which are Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
Others are Jacksonville, Florida; Spokane, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.