It Took Seven Years To Build Rivers Hotel – Owner Of Demolished Structure Cries

Promise Gogorodari, owner of Prudent Hotel, Eleme, one of the two hotels demolished in Rivers State on Sunday, has decried the action of the state government, saying he laboured to build the structure for seven years.
Prudent Hotel and Etemeteh Hotel, Onne, were demolished on the orders of Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, for allegedly violating the lockdown order imposed on the state to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
But speaking in an interview on the development, Gogorodari, who is based in Lagos State, insisted that his now-demolished hotel did not flout the lockdown order of Rivers State or any extant law in the country.
He alleged that the state government did not conduct a proper investigation or provide him with a fair hearing before the structure was pulled own.
He lamented that the bulldozing of the property has destroyed his family’s livelihood and that of his staff.
“I am based in Lagos but I am not in the right frame of mind to speak now. There is nobody who will not feel bad about this. It is a hotel that I built for the past seven years. The demolition of hotels is a setback to the state in terms of investment,” Gogorodari told the Punch.
“That was an investment that was taking care of my family and relatives and people around me. There was no fair hearing before the demolition took place. With this, many people are out of jobs.
“I did not violate any order. The government was supposed to do some investigations before doing that. And if they found me wanting, then another procedure should be followed; not demolishing a structure like that.”