By Wisdom Patrick
Another round of trouble may soon engulf the popular Ladipo spare-parts market in Mushin, Mushin Local Government Area, LGA, of Lagos State, after some traders in the Aguiyi Ironsi complex in the market, vowed to seek justice over the six months unlawful incarceration of their leader which made him go blind.
The traders said, already a petition has been forwarded to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Muhammed Abubakar, to urgently ensure that justice is done, “or else we may take the law into our hands and revenge the torture that our chairman, Jonathan Chibuzor Okorie, went through in the hands of some policemen in Lagos,” the traders stated in the petition made available to Journalists.
The traders also alleged that a serving female Commissioner of Police, CP, was giving tacit backing to the trouble makers in the Aguiyi Ironsi complex. The Commissioner of Police is alleged to be having a vested interest in the complex.
Earlier, hundreds of traders at the Iguiyi-Ironsi complex, had staged a protest on Tuesday, complaining about the “unlawful incarceration” of their chairman, Mr. Jonathan Chibuzor Okorie.
Jonathan was said to have been invited by State Security Service (SSS) , which he honoured, without being aware that it was a trap to lure him into police net and later, prison where he spend six months in a solitary cell.
The protesters chanted solidarity songs. Some of the colourful placards scream in bold letters: ‘Iguiyi-Ironsi traders say no to imposition of leader by Mushin Local Government Chairman’ ‘Please government stop this tribalism against Igbo Traders’’, ” We demand justice over the torture our Chairman went through.”
The Secretary General of the traders association, Mr. Christian Ibegbuna, explained to journalists that after they arrived at the SSS office in Shangisha, Ketu, Lagos State, they were marched to the office of the State Director where a petition was handed over to Okorie.
“The petition alleged that Okorie had attempted to murder some people. Before those that went with Okorie knew what was happening, Okorie had been bundled into the waiting Hilux truck belonging to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, for further investigation.”
Ibegbuna claimed that no investigation into the allegations slammed against Okorie was carried out by detectives at SCID, before the man was charged to court and subsequently remanded in Ikoyi Prisons. According to him, every volatile situation, which had ever happened or is happening in the market and the several attacks on Okorie, were orchestrated by a woman Commissioner of Police and some people in the Mushin Local Government.
Ibegbuna explained that the crux of the matter was that the woman Commissioner, currently serving at the Force Headquarters Abuja, wants to install her son as chairman of the association at all cost, but the members, with the executives, had vehemently kicked against the move.
The traders explained to Journalists that the only way the woman’s son could become their chairman, was for him to become a vehicle spare-part seller, instead of his present trade, which is the selling of electronics.
One of them argued: “You can’t be selling electronics and want to become or be installed as chairman over people selling vehicle spare parts! It’s not done anywhere! Let him come here, get a shop and start selling vehicle spare parts, and then he can later contest as chairman!”
A visibly angry Ibegbuna said, “our President was in detention at Panti for 12 days! Later he was moved from Panti and remanded in Ikoyi Prisons. We want Nigerians to know that the persecution our leader is facing, is too much! Detectives at Panti didn’t investigate anything, rather they came up with trumped up charged against him, all lies!, then remanded him. They even alleged him of importing arms, can you believe that? We want the Inspector General of Police to call his men to order, to tell them to re-investigate the matter concerning Jonathan Okorie.”
Another trader, who described himself as the Chief Adviser to the Chairman/President on legal matters, Mr. Ifeanyi Chukwulobe, said the leadership crisis was already on, before those allegedly fighting to install a new leader came with thugs to attack them. The traders claimed that many of them were wounded and even provided pictures to buttress this allegation.
It was further gathered that the traders became entangled in the politics and intrigues of the woman police, her son and Mushin local government after they leased a land from the woman’s late husband, who is a developer and built shops on the land.
One of the documents, obtained from the traders’ lawyer, which they equally presented to journalists to argue and buttresses their legitimacy in the power play going on, read thus: “We wish to state categorically that the main reason behind the circulation of the false allegation is to topple the market leadership, notwithstanding the tendency of an Order of Court. By an Order of the High Court of Lagos State, the incumbent Chairman of Mushin Local Government and some members of the opposition who are against our clients leadership were restrained from interfering with the market leadership
“The aggregate result of the above facts is that the Chairman of Mushin Local Government Area and some members of the opposition are bent on removing the leadership of the market contrary to the provision of their Market Constitution and 111 violation of Section 40 of the Constitution· of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
“We make bold to state that our clients do not have firearms and cannot stock what they do not have in their market. We therefore urge you to discountenance such false allegation as they are spurious and merely intended to mislead you.”
