| Police, vigilante group
avert blood-bath in Onitsha
By Nwabueze Okonkwo, Onitsha
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
.
Men of the police force at the Ogidi police station in Anambra
State and armed vigilante group attached to Anambra State
Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA) on Monday
averted what could have led to a blood bath between two factions
of Ozomagala /Ezemekwe Streets Building Materials Co-Operative
Traders Association in Onitsha.
The fracas was averted at the newly constructed market site
of the association at Ogidi along the Enugu /Onitsha expressway
when one of the factions loyal to the incumbent chairman of
the association, Chief Mark Aguiyi wanted to hold a Morning
Prayer session.
The Chief Aguiyi led-executive had in a radio announcement,
invited the traders to converge at the new market site for
a prayer session. But the opposing camp, led by Eddy-Brown
Iruogu insisted that the Aguiyi led-executive should not enter.
However, the new site until they had rendered an account of
their eight-year stewardship, ASMATA president, Mr. Sylvester
Odife (Jnr) made a counter radio announcement instructing
both parties not to go to the new site for whatever purpose,
until the misunderstanding was resolved.
But as both parties converged at the new site to monitor each
others activities and probably to confront each other, the
ASMATA security group arrived in two Mitsubishi buses and
ordered both parties to pull out of the new site.
The policemen, on their own part, advised both parties to
join them to the police station to see their Divisional Police
Officer (DPO).
However, the Aguiyi group was permitted to conduct their prayers
only for a short period and then disperse, so as to avoid
possible outbreak of violence even as the Iruogu group were
already grumbling that the Aguiyi group should not have been
allowed into the premises at all.
At this stage, Pastor Isaac Ufondu started with prayers, songs
of praises and sermons for about an hour.
The consultant to the state government on markets affairs,
Prince Emeka Asoanya arrived the scene, sat inside his vehicle,
watched the scenario and drove off to Awka, declining comments
as journalists confronted him.
Pastor Ufondu, in his sermon, advised both parties to sheath
their sword as according to him, as brothers and sisters,
dialogue should be their watch word.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the prayers, Aguiyi stated
that his executive had spent over N220 million to erect the
new market site which he said has about 1200 stalls.
He stated that the grouse of the opposition was that they
were not given stallage allocations at the new market site
because they refused to pay N190,000 which others paid.
But the opposition leader, Iruogu and his secretary, Anthony
Okonkwo told newsmen that the crux of the matter was that
they want Aguiyi and his executive to render account of their
stewardship from 1996 till date and then call for an election
of new executive because their tenure had long expired.
They also accused the Aguiyi group of building extra stalls
in the new site and selling them at between N500, 000 and
N1 million each to interested buyers without rendering the
account, adding that they did not only cover the space mapped
out as motor park inside the market with illegal stalls, but
also obtained loans to the tune of N45 million from the Broad
bank without their consent, just as they constituted themselves
into a market building committee.
They therefore called on the state government to dissolve
the executive, appoint a caretaker committee and probe the
Aguiyi Executive.
Odife (Jnr), ASMATA President, in his own speech, said ASMATA
is interested in resolving the matter amicably, adding that
nobody should move into the new market site until the matter
was looked into.
He advised traders to always come to ASMATA to resolve their
cases rather than rushing to Awka as if ASMATA could not handle
such cases to their satisfaction.
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