From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Traders of Planks and Joists Association ( UPJA), Onitsha, Anambra State have decried the high handedness of the Transition Committee Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Hon. Emeka Orji.
Lawyer to the traders, Mr. Clifford Iloegbune Okoye, who spoke on their behalf during a press conference yesterday called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo, to call Orji to order over his excesses.
The Transition chairman has been accused of “rascality and maliciously inflicting damages” on the traders even when there is a pending case against him by the traders.
Okoye said that Hon. Orji and his cohorts without notice to traders and without following due process of law had gone into the (UPJA) Market and pulled down the plazas built by traders in 2023..
Chief Okoye noted that the traders went to Court in connection with the destruction but Orji never responded to the notices sent to him including the pre-action notice.
“The case came up for hearing on March 5, 2024 , but he did not show up in the Court neither did he send any legal representation. The matter has been adjourned to April 10, 2024 in Onitsha”.
The lawyer said Orji while carrying out the demolition exercise of the plaza destroyed goods in the warehouse, carted them away with the debris and also sold them.
The lawyer lamented that instead of meeting his clients in court of justice, Orji has resorted to intimidation, threatening to demolish the shops of the traders in the market.
He said Orji has already marked some shops for demolition and has given the traders seven days notice, lamenting that these shops were built over 30 years ago. He said Orji was threatening traders simply because they were challenging him in court over his demolition of their plaza.
” I am very sure that the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo is not aware of this rascality. What Hon. Emeka Orji is doing in Onitsha South Local Government and Markets in Onitsha South has no blessings of the Governor of Anambra State. The Government of Anambra State headed by a Professor of Economics knows what to do at the appropriate time like this” said Okoye.
He further explained that the Governor visited the Market just this week and passed through Niger Street and he never raised any objection against any building in the Market, even as he said immediately the Governor left, Hon. Orji mobilized thugs and started marking the shops for demolition of more structures.
“What have traders at the Bridgehead Market done to Hon. Orji that warranted demolishing the properties of Ndigbo. And I say it again; we cannot face tribulations in other parts of the country and also in our own land. The shops which traders built are not illegal structures. The shops marked for demolition are shops generating revenue for State Government. All eyes should be on Hon. Emeka Orji. Orji who has shown not to be a respecter of law. He cannot come, out of bravado and begin to demolish people’s shops” Okoye further lamented.
When contacted for his reaction, the Council Chairman, Orji who spoke through the Secretary of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Mr. Paul Onuachara, described the claims by the traders as baseless. He said what prompted the planned demolition was that the traders built shops under high tension wire.