Market crisis: Hold Anambra Govt responsible for forceful moving of traders to Nteje – Onuzulike

PHIL OKOSE, Onitsha

 

 

Immediate past chairman of Iron Rod Dealers Association, Atani road, Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State, Mr. Nnaemeka Onuzulike, Monday, has denied responsibility for the forceful moving of traders to their permanent site at Nteje, adding that it was the state Government through Ocha Brigade that is responsible.

 

“It is OCHA Brigade that is giving us the notice of leaving not me, I have moved to the new site already. Relocation started in April, we gave ourselves April until the government gave us August 31, before then, we went there for prayers and people were coming in there gradually with their goods.

 

“The government said that they would come on August 31st  to enforce the movement to the new site, this thing happening now is that the government has given one week for relocation since they couldn’t do it in August.

 

“Some traders decided not to pay for their shops and now the enforcement has started, they have reported to Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Trade and Markets,, SPAD, Evarist Uba, and he told them that nothing can stop the relocation, but still they refused to pay the money thereby insisting not to go anywhere, saying that I am the one chasing them.

 

Mr. Onuzulike was reacting to a petition by a rival group, Concerned Members of Iron Rod Dealers, Atani Road, to the state government that he, (Onuzulike), was ejecting them to a permanent site at Nteje when he had not rendered account of his stewardship as past chairman of the market.

 

The aggrieved faction, through its spokesperson, Okafor C. Uzochukwu, who is the incumbent financial secretary, accused the former chairman of denying them the plots they paid for and instead demanded that they should pay an extra #,1,450, 000, outside the initial #250,000 they earlier paid.

 

However, the incumbent Chairman of Iron Dealers Union Atani, Mr Evaristus Ejezie, was not left out as the aggrieved traders described him as a stooge and rubber stamp to the former chairman for having supported him in the ejection.

 

In a swift reaction, Ejezie denied being a rubber stamp recalling that it was in his tenure that the market won the Anambra Traders Soccer trophy and that he installed solar lights in the market adding that a rubber stamp could not have achieved these.

 

“When I informed them about relocation, some complained of not having shops there, I promised to build shops and after a series of meetings with my executive, I called them for a meeting and they started fighting in the meeting,” he further disclosed.

 

Speaking, Paul Anyaegbu, former financial secretary, said that the issue of money was not yet the problem as it was agreed that an account of stewardship should be rendered on completion of the market shops at Nteje.

 

“We agreed that after the building of the shops at the site, we render account and when we were paying, that money, it was being submitted to the central body, they are the ones to tell us how much was generated and how it was spent.

 

“The account I prepared was on the #250,000 we agreed to pay earlier, which was paid instrumentally, on taking the accounts which took me days to prepare, to the meeting to read the account, they said they did not want it again and tore the papers into pieces, causing problems here and there,” he stated.

 

Recall that in one of their meetings with Special Adviser on Markets, Chief Evaristus Uba, it was agreed that he should hand over any Government property with him to the new Caretaker Committee chairman, which he has complied with.

 

It was gathered that there are eight markets that deal in similar items that were ordered to relocate to the new site at Nteje by the State government or be ejected but the rival group reportedly preferred to remain at Atani road which is the main bone of contention.