Breaking News: 30 Traders, 5 Pregnant Women Injured By Miscreants in Onitsha …Police Arrest Leader, One Other

www.odogwublog.com reports that the leader of an alleged group of miscreants, Hon. Chidi Ekpendu
terrorizing Onitsha and environs in the name of road decongestion has been arrested by the Nigerian police after injuring no fewer than 30 traders, including five pregnant women yesterday.

They sustained various degrees of injuries when the miscreants who claimed to be raod decongestion officials stormed their market along sokoto/Haruna Street Onitsha and started beating them up.


The said officials, who stormed the market with three buses and about 150 touts, looted the wares of the traders as they were beating them for reportedly using their wares to cause obstruction in the market.


Some of the traders who resisted the attack were injured with broken bottles, clubs and machetes.


Five pregnant women who were among the injured told newsmen that the officials claimed to have come from the State Ministry of Transport to decongest the roads/streets in Onitsha South.

According to them, “when they came, they started confiscating our wares and beating us up for nothing because our wares were not on the roads”.


“They took us to their hide out in a Plaza at Niger Street, Fegge, and on getting there most of our wares were stolen.


They said they were road decongestion officials but they were members of Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and market touts who only disguised themselves to loot our wares”, they said further.

The traders, who were rescued by the Fegge Policemen and brought to the station with some of their wares, said some of the injured have been taken to nearby hospitals for medical attention.


According to two of the victims, Chika Nweke and Okechukwu who had a broken bottle cut, “they demanded from N4,000 to N10,000 for any goods to be released to the owner”.


It was while they were at the hide out of the officials that the police at Fegge on a tip-off stormed the place and arrested their leader, Hon. Chidi Ekpendu and one other member.

In his defence, the leader Hon. Chidi Ekpendu admitted that miscreants infiltrated the officials which resulted in the looting and beating of the traders adding that he has his authorization document to decongest roads in the area from the Ministry of Transport.


“I have 12 boys I work with but am not surprised that the miscreants and MASSOB members may have infiltrated them during operation”, he hinted.


Confirming the incident, the Fegge Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Mr.Rabiu Garba, said they would soon be charged to court adding that miscreants would not be allowed to operate in the area.
  

Photo of some of the affected traders and their goods confiscated at Fegge police station Onitsha