By Julie Sylvia, Onitsha
The chairman of the Onitsha Main Market, Chief Innocent Ezeoha has accused the Ocha Brigade, the state decongesting outfit of working against the interest the Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, to decongest all streets in the state.
Speaking against the backdrop of the arrest of a member of Main Market taskforce, Mr Chinaza Anyabuoke for touting by Ocha Brigade, Chief Ezeoha, said there is no single tout working for Main Market rather they have taskforce members he constituted from to decongest the market.
He expressed surprise that some people who called themselves Ocha Brigade adhoc staff arrested a member of his taskforce and tagged him a tout.
Ezeoha said they have been able to decongest major areas in the market in accordance with the directive of the Governor especially Bright and Johnson streets.
Anyabuoke said he was arrested on November 21 2013, at Bright Street where he was carrying out his lawful duty of decongesting the place.
He alleged he was beaten to stupor,t taken to their office where they took his picture and posted online, alleging that he was extorting money from traders and carrying weapons such as matchet and shut gun, which he denied.
He was later taken to Central Police Station (CPS) Onitsha which in turn arraigned him at Magistrate Court Seven Onitsha that granted him bail on Thursday, November 23, 2023,
But the chairman said that Anyabuoke was not carrying any gun as alleged by the Ocha Brigade Adhoc team, rather they were the people who carry arms and extort money from traders, saying that they were not happy that they didn’t see traders they would extort money from, hence the attempt to blackmail the leadership of the market.
He appealed that Main Market should be allowed to use it’s structure to sanitize the market , wondering the undue interest and interference in the market by extraneous bodies.
