The Anambra State Government has partially demolished the head office of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) in Nnewi, sparking outrage from the company.
According to Mr. Cornel Osigwe, Head of Corporate Communications at Innoson Group, the demolition was carried out without prior notification on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
“The demolition came to us as a surprise. We did not know that the building itself was marked for demolition and if it was marked, they should have given us time to relocate,” Osigwe said as quoted by News Agency of Nigeria.
It was reported that staff were working when the demolition began, with some trapped inside. Over 20 vehicles were also trapped.
Osigwe questioned the sudden demolition, noting that nearby buildings marked for demolition were spared.
“There were other buildings that were close to the head office and marked for demolition that were not demolished but they came straight to our building and demolished it, making us to wonder if there was another ulterior motive to it,” he said.
When asked if the demolition could be the result of a political witch-hunt, the company’s spokesperson said he did not think the state government would intentionally decide to demolish the company.
“Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra has been a great supporter of Innoson Vehicle and Innoson has been a great supporter of the state government.
“But the way and manner that everything happened makes us to wonder if the state government is aware that those handling the demolition have personal vendetta against the company,” he added.
However, the state Commissioner for Works, Mr Ifeanyi Okoma, defended the demolition, saying that the IVM Head Office was among the buildings marked for demolition for road construction.
Okoma explained that all the affected buildings were marked, and the affected people were informed.
“These buildings were marked sometime in December or January, we are not looking at individuals; it is something that cuts across the whole place and it is not personalised.
“Even the Catholic Church and every other building that is along the road were not going to be exonerated. These roads were designed to decongest traffic gridlock experienced during festival periods,” he said.
“Soludo is the only governor nationwide that uses made in Nigeria vehicles. Chief Innoson is our man; anybody trying to create wrong narrative about the demolition exercise does not mean well,” he added.
