ASMATA PG Suspends Inauguration Of Market Caretaker Over Bloody Clash….15 Injured
By Julie Sylvia, Onitsha
In his bid to ensure no life is lost following the peaceful protest by the incumbent executive of Ozomagala Building Materials market, Onitsha, Anambra State, led by their chairman, Obiorah Okoro, the President General, PG, Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders’ Association, ASMATA, Chief Humphrey Anuna, has suspended the inauguration of a caretaker committee led by Tochukwu Umeh.
The protesters some of who carried placards with the inscription, “No imposition of leaders on Modebe Plaza traders, leadership is not by force, no to non members imposition, allow peace to reign in Modebe shopping plaza”, among others, were approaching the ASMATA PG to lay their complaints to him when they were stopped by security operatives.
On the process, a free for all fight ensued between the incumbent executive led by okoro and the about to be inaugurated caretaker committee led by Umeh on one hand and the security operatives and the incumbent executive on the other, resulting in the incumbent chairman, Mr. Okoro being severely beaten and hospitalized in a yet to be disclosed hospital while 14 others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Consequently , the ASMATA PG, hurriedly suspended the inauguration after several pleas to the warring parties to calm down for peace talk failed.
“Since you people have continued to fight despite my presence as the ASMATA PG sent by state government to this place today, by the powers vested in me by law, I hereby suspend the inauguration until peace is restored in this market.
“If we embark on the inauguration process more victims will be recorded as the tension is high and nobody is listening to anybody, including me, so inauguration is hereby suspended,”
Reacting before being rushed to the hospital, the incumbent chairman, Okoro managed to speak, saying, “Those being imposed on us are not our members, today they have injured about 15 people , including me, I am rushing to the hospital now. The man they want to impose as the chairman is a provision seller that ran away from provision line few months ago into our market. More than half of the so called caretaker to be inaugurated are not our members.
“They are being used as shield by those at Awka and others to sack us and sell our plazas we bought on lease for 50 years at #7million then, from Modebe Enterprises, to resell at #60million and above and that is the bone of contention, nothing more and majority of the traders say no to the imposition.
“They began by saying their reason for sacking me and my executive is because I am owing or I embezzle government tax/levy. If I embezzle government money, is it not the government through those incharge of IGR that will say so. I have receipts for all payments with me and AIRS that we paid, they never said we owe because we pay as at when due and the receipts are there for verification.
“Let them bring police to arrest me that I am owing. It is just a plot to sack us and sell our plazas because around us now, plazas cost price is on the high side. It is not to remove me as chairman that is the issue but to sell our plazas, this case didn’t start today,” he stated.
Also contributing, former secretary of the market, Chief Hyacinth Obasi, corroborated the position of Okoro adding, “Their target is to sell the plaza, and they want a platform that will back them, which is to become the executive and they spent huge sum of money at Awka to know if they will grab the seat.
“How can you just be imposed on the majority of the traders when you are not even their member and didn’t know how the plazas came about. You want to sell plazas you don’t know how we got. Just to grab the plazas and sell because you want money,” he concluded.
In a swift reaction when contacted, the embattled chairman whose inauguration was aborted stated that, “Chief Okoro was sacked and I have replaced him because he embezzled our tax money, he didn’t remit to government our stallage levies and government removed him.
“So today we are eight man caretaker executive led by myself as chairman that have been inaugurated by ASMATA PG. We were in Awka where SPAD appointed us and today we were inaugurated in our market by ASMATA PG.
“The sacked Okoro was also using high handedness in piloting the affairs of the market. As we were being inaugurated Okoro and his team pounced on the ASMATA PG and his team and many were injured,” he disclosed further.
Pic shows the protesters
