Efforts made by the Anambra state government to sanitize
major cities in the state may be facing brick wall, where traders from Awka, numbering in their hundreds protest to the state police command
headquarters challenging the new government policy on keeping the motoring
highway clear from obstructions.
The traders, who represent different markets along Ziks
Avenue and Nnamdi Azikiwe Temporary Site Awka, called on the police authority to
caution its men from carrying out measures not favourable to the well being of
the citizens.
They outlined effforts made to straighten sanity on the above mentioned market
places and institute programmes on their own to ensure law and order is maintained
but was later altered by the invasion of
the state police force called ‘’ Operation Okpochapu’’ who invaded their street
to less people’s tires and forcefully
remove some market people selling in their different markets stands.
The traders, who earlier had a close door meeting with the
state deputy commisioner of police Mr. P. D.
Yakadi, later spoke to journalists on how they were dissapointed in the action
of the men of Nigerian Police Force but
profer a lasting suggestion of instituting a mobile court along the market places
to arrest and prosecute anyone found wanting.
In his reaction, Chairman Ziks Avenue Market Union Traders
Association, Pharmacist Iyke Okafor expressed dissapointment on what he regarded as a calculated attempt to send the traders our of business, and called for a
collective working relationship with the state government to achieve a common
goal of development in the state.
He described the Police operation as an attempt poised to destroy their business environment and attributed it as an act of
opression and fragnrat infringment on their human right as a citizen of the
state. His word ‘’ We were just against
the movement of the police through their Operation Okpochapu vehicles , piercing
peoples cars who parked to transact busienss on Ziks Avenue Awka and its
environ’’
Reacting to their
protest, the Police Spokesman for Anambra Police Command, Mr. Uche Eze said the
command was only carrying out directive of the state government to ensure all
highways in the state are kept free from human and vehiular traffick.
He condemend the idea where traders would place their good
on major highway and cause obstruction for human and vehicular movement, noted
with equivocation that the measure of government was in the interest of the
market people and their propective buyers.
''Our own is to impliment the orders of the government of the
day, the state government directs that their
should be free flow of traffick along Ziks Avenue which we are implimenting, I
also told them to Onitha now, from NITEL to head bridge, and from head bridge
to Aba Park,no disturbances anywhere, there must be movement ‘’ Eze stressed.