Following the building collapse that occurred on Saturday, the Anambra State Government on Monday demolished no fewer than 2,000 illegal shops in Onitsha.

The shops located by the bank of the River Niger were mostly owned by members of the Sand Miners Association of Anambra State, who use them as equipment and operational offices, while some are occupied by petty traders who serviced them.

The illegal structures were said to have been built by traders who allegedly got the approval of the National Inland Water Ways, but the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, stated during a visit to the area last week that NIWA does not have the right to build or allocate spaces to traders on Anambra land.

The development is coming as the state government has declared war on illegal structures following the collapse of a five-storey building at Fegge in the same community.