Rivers State Task Force on the Recovery of Government Properties has advised those illegally occupying Government Quarters to voluntarily vacate or risk being forced out.
Addressing journalists after an operation of the Taskforce to recover Government Quarters inhabited by unauthorised persons recently, Chairman of Rivers State Task Force on the Recovery of Government Properties and Head of Service, Rufus Godwins stated that quit notices have been pasted on Government Houses to prevail on the illegal occupants to vacate.
He said: “We have accordingly also posted notices and addressed the illegal occupants to vacate immediately. This is going to be a continuous exercise, members of the taskforce are all here and we will continue to give opportunity to those who have complaints to make to reach us through the numbers which we have already exhibited on the notices.
“So, what we are doing is to allow people to follow due process. Come to us, we have served notices to people, some have vacated the properties, we expect that everyone should take a cue from those ones and voluntarily vacate so that they will be forced out, unless they make it absolutely unnecessary to be forced out”.
He said that the Task Force is working to identify Government Properties for immediate recovery.
“As the Rivers State Government Special Taskforce on the recovery of government properties to trace, identify and locate government properties being occupied by unauthorized persons, either as non-civil servants or civil servants who have retired but have stayed in possession.
“This exercise is taking us through the entire stretch of Tombia Street and the adjoining Opobo Crescent and a number of government properties have been identified which have fallen into the hands of people who are not authorized to occupy such properties.”
The Task Force urged members of the public to supply it with information to recover properties that have been illegally occupied.
“Members of the public are also encouraged to give useful information because these are government properties. They are part of our most priced assets as a people an as a government. And so, we shall have interest in these properties.
“It is sad that people will watch and see government properties being taken over brazenly by unofficial means and in most cases quite strangely by even people who are not from the state and not part of the country. And you begin to ask, how do you come, and its a long winding story of how the property was given to someone and how it came to the person that is now in occupation and government has no such record”, he said.
He added: “So, we thank members of the public, especially those along this axis that we have been interacting with since morning and our lines are open. Give us information of intruders to some of these government properties.
“For those that are serving civil servants, the only reason that they may be affected is that either the apartment has fallen into disrepair and needs to be repaired, and in that regard, His Excellency, has directed that we relocate some persons in such quarters so that they do not endanger the lives of the occupants. Those ones, it is in their own interest to quickly and promptly abide by relocating.”
