A group of eight suspects who attacked and injured field operations officers working with the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, ACTDA, at an unapproved construction site in Nibo, Awka South Local Government Area, has been nabbed by security agents.
The suspects, all males in their twenties, had on Thursday, February 25th, 202, assailed the ACTDA field inspectors who demanded the approval papers for construction works at the building site where the suspects were working.
According to the ACTDA officials, the group of boys in connivance with the owner of the construction site, who, on getting a call on the presence of the government officials, rushed to the site with a truckload of thugs, attacked and inflicted serious injuries on men of the agency.
The assailants also damaged the government agency’s vehicles and made away with many field equipment.
Speaking to the ABS on the development, the Managing Director of ACTDA, Venerable Amaechi Okwuosa, said that the recent incident was not an isolated case as the agency usually encounter stiff resistance from developers, especially those whose development models fall short of the legal guidelines, but stated that the agency would not be discouraged in any way from carrying out its legal duties.
The ACTDA boss who described the incident as worrisome, given the level of damage that the agency suffered from the attack, noted that the arrest and onward prosecution of the suspects would serve as deterrent to others.
He said that the quest to develop Anambra State, in line with the best global model, demands collective efforts and urged everyone, especially developers to see government agencies such as ACTDA as mutual partners in the fight for a developed Anambra State. UPSOT
One of the suspects, a tiler at the said construction site, who preferred anonymity, gave his own account of the incident and denied being involved in the attack on the government officials.
The suspects who have been handed over to the police would be arraigned before the court.