Anambra traders accuse Governor Soludo’s aides of flouting court order, unlawful detention of members

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By Alphonsus Nweze, Onitsha

Iweka Street Electronics traders and technicians Onitsha, under the aegis of Association of Radio and Television Technicians of Anambra State (ATANS), have called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to prevail on his aides who work in concert with one Chief Okey Ufudo to stop their further harassment, intimidation, unlawful arrest and detention of their leadership and members.

The chairman of ATANS, Chief Sabastine Ebilite, who addressed newsmen weekend decried total disobedience of orders of Court of competent jurisdiction by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Markets., Chief Evaristus Uba, the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Commerce and Markets, Mr. Chinedu Ike and others.

He lamented that an injunction obtained by the traders from a Vacation Judge sitting in Awka, the state capital which directed that status quo ante bellum should be maintained until the determination of their matter with Chief Ufondu and others pending in the Court was flagrantly disobeyed.

He decried the manner Chief Uba, Ike, the managing director of Ocha Brigade and the Onitsha Police Area Commander flouted the court order arrested their members and sealed their shops.

He said the Court went ahead to interpret the order that they the ATANS traders should remain at Iweka Road until the determination of the case.

Unfortunately,last Friday August 24, 2924, said Ebilite, these people drafted a contingent of armed security operatives made up Police, Civil Defence, masked Vigilant men, armed bearing Ocha Brigade personnel invaded them,shooting indiscriminately.

He said, they in the process arrested about 15 persons including a woman, took them to Area Command, Onitsha office after sealing the market for the second time in a month from where they were transferred them to Special Anti Robbery Squad, Awkuzu ,the following day.

But before this unfortunate incident, said the chairman, their Vice-Chairman, Israel Chukwudi, was arrested two weeks ago on the trumped allegation of robbing somebody at gun point. He has been at Awkuzu for about two weeks now.

The chairman said that at the crux of their harassment, intimidation, arrest and unlawful detention was their refusal to relocate to the private market built by Chief Ufondu at Harbour, Ogbaru, with his association since from abinitio they were not part of the building process of the market.

” We didn’t contribute money for the building of the market. We are not in the same association. There was no shops for us there.At a time they didn’t want us to exist as a union.They didn’t want another union but we registered our union since 2004. We went to Court and won. Court held that we have freedom of association” he said.

Chief Ebillite said when they refused to join them, Ufondu with his cohorts brought in armed security personnel including Ocha Brigade to seal their shops.

” That was the first time they sealed our market. Our source of income. This is happening in Igbo land not in Lagos, Abuja or Kaduna perpetrated by our Igbo brothers” he said.

He said they arrested him and some others, took them to SARs office where he was detained for seven days before they arraigned him at Magistrate Court which eventually set him free.

The chairman said that the State House of Assembly through the Committee in Market intervened in the matter and asked them to return back, unseal their shops for business but these people refused to abide by their intervention.

He appealed to the Governor to direct his aides to stop further haraasment, saying if not for anything to obey the judgment of Court which asked them to stay at their usual place of business until the Court determines .

Ebilite said they have always supported the Governor including in the payment of taxes and levies, promising that they would not relent in that support.

But our sources said Chief Ufondu is using the relationship he has with a prominent business mogul from Anambra State who has influence with the Police.

That is why they take them to Area Command, to SARs office at Awkuzu, where his men hold sway.