At least three persons are believed to have been killed as traders and youths clashed with security operatives at Eke Onunwa market in Owerri, Imo state capital, on Saturday. The irate traders and youths are protesting the demolition order given by the state government on the relocation of the market.
The fracas started in the morning when the state government overnight moved in bulldozers and pay loaders and commenced the demolition of the market. The situation degenerated and escalated into full blown crisis when one of the protesters, a young man, was reportedly hit by the stray bullet fired by one of the security operatives deployed to maintain order in the ensuing melee in the aftermath of the demolition.
Witnesses said that heavy as gunshots were heard in the neighborhood. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state had issued an evacuation order to the traders advising them to relocate to a new site to make way for development at the market site.
The governor issued a press statement signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, Kingsley Uju, stating that traders in the market should move out within 48 hours after the release of the statement.
It was learnt that the host of the Ekeukwu market, Owere nchi ise clans claimed that the market is their ancestral home and they were not consulted by the governor before the demolition. They also accuse the governor of high-handedness and insensitivity to their plight and demands.
The natives had earlier resisted the relocation order and have taken the state government to court over the matter.
However, the market was demolished in the middle of the night by bulldozers already stationed at the scene despite the efforts of the natives.
The natives are in doubt the state government’s commitment the planned development or modernisation of the market even as other areas hitherto demolished by the Governor Rochas’ administration have turned into scandalous “white elephant projects” which sprang up all over Imo state are still uncompleted with attendant environmental hazards threatening already excavated areas.
In sum, whereas Government’s intention might be noble, the multiplier effect and economic resonance of relocating the market maybe potent with the traders and natives if the governor has made good his promise of completing other projects embarked upon. Surely Owelle has missed the bus and brought mayhem on his own people.
