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Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Anambra State government has warned traders in Ochanja market, Onitsha, against holding political meetings in the market.
The state Commissioner for Trade, Commerce and Creative Economy Chief Uchenna Okafor who gave the warning when he visited the market during their monthly prayers, said that facts available to him revealed that some traders used the market as their meeting point for political matters.
He urged the traders to desist from such act and advised any trader who wants to go into politics to join a political party and as well meet where they meet instead of the market place, stressing that the market is meant for business transaction and not for political meetings.
Okafor said that those who cause confusion in the market are those who don’t have shops but wanted to be leaders to enrich themselves, saying that government is determined to sustain peace, provide security of lives and property of the traders.
“There are two groups in this market, one group does business in this market while the other doesn’t have shops in this market; its members think that they will be relevant and be rich through market leadership. Anybody who wants to be a market leader must have a shop and be doing business in the market for him to contest any position in the market. I urge the traders to go into their shops and do business, and ignore those loitering about to cause confusion.
“Our priority is to sustain peace in the market. We are begging those who don’t have shops in this market but want to be leaders to allow the real traders to do their businesses. They should stop disturbing the traders trying to create crisis where there is none. This market was built by government and not individual market and anybody who wants to control any market should first of all, build his own market to control and give orders and not in government market because the governor of the state is in charge of Ochanja market.”
The “governor is interested in peace in this market. The governor has no interest in the leadership of the market; his interest is for peace, security of lives and property of the traders. Anybody who wants to do politics should do it outside the market and should go and join any political party and not in the market.”
