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 road
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
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