Some policemen sent to maintain law and order in Effium community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, have been attacked by suspected cultists. The Caretaker Chairman of the council, Mr. Clement Odaah, who confirmed this yesterday, said the policemen were drafted to quell the free-for-all fight that erupted in the community over a Market Revalidation Committee, constituted by the council’s chairman to revalidate all the shops in Inikiri market in the area. He noted that he was not aware of the number of policemen attacked as he was not around when the crisis erupted but from information at his disposal, the victims were “minimal.”
“When the boys headed by one Emmanuel Nwakpa,who was aggrieved that he was not part of my committee started causing commotion, some policemen were sent. “First of all, a few policemen from the Divisional Police Headquarters were sent but they were outnumbered by the boys, probably they were not fully prepared and they returned. “The number of policemen attacked was minimal but I won’t be able to tell you the actual number because I did not go with them.”
Though no life was lost, Odaah disclosed that peace has returned to the area following the deployment of men of the Anti-Robbery Squad from the state police command. A source from the area alleged that the council chairman constituted the Market Revalidation Committee as a settlement to his ‘boys’ to be collecting levies from the marketers without the consent of the elders and community leaders since the market has not been completely handed over to the government.
The source noted that the crisis started when the committee went to the market to enforce the collection of N2, 000 and N1, 7000 for the sale of form and revalidation fees respectively when the youths revolted against the obnoxious levies that led to the fight.
It was gathered that the youth loyal to the chairman led by one Obinna Ufoo and his special assistant popularly known as Acada allegedly went into the market without prior notice concerning the market revalidation which goes with payment of non refundable levies.
However, youths of the community led by one Emmanuel Nwakpa, who drew the attention of the chairman to the crisis the revalidation exercise was generating owing to the composition of the committee, which he accused the chairman of infiltrating it with suspected cult members.
The youth, it was gathered regrouped and stopped the collection of the purported market revalidation fees on the grounds that the market was not completely handed over to the government and that the traders are mere peasants and poor rural traders, who can barely afford their daily bread and being asked to cough out N2, 000 and N17, 000 respectively.
It was gathered that the council boss was aggrieved that a native of the area first alerted the state Commissioner of Police, Peace Ibekwe Abdallah, over the boiling security situation in the area that led to the deployment of the policemen, as the chairman was accused of complicity in the crisis. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP George Okafor, said he was in a meeting.
