Market group drags commissioner before Abia House of Assembly

Traders at the popular Ekeoha Market otherwise known as Shopping Center in Aba, Abia State have dragged the Commissioner of Commerce, Trade and Investment, Rt. Hon. Cosmos Ndukwe before members of the Abia State House of Assembly.

In a petition submitted to the Abia State House of Assembly, the traders under the auspices of Concerned Traders of Ekeoha Shopping Center through their lawyer, Barr. Victor Nwaugo accused the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Rt. Hon. Cosmos Ndukwe of conniving with the Chairman of Ekeoha Shopping Centre Traders Association Mr. Friday Dimiri to raise indiscriminate structures in open spaces in the market, in total disregard of the original building plan of the market.

The Concerned Traders led by one Hon. Ugochukwu Oriaku, James Eze, Jona Anayogu and Chukwueke Nwokocha alleged that the Commissioner for Trade and Investment authorized the conversion of facilities within the market such as like car park, fire station, driveway, emergency exit ways, and some walkways into shops, stressing that the total disregard of the master plan of the market by Ndukwe is iniquitous and capable of causing mass death of traders and their customers.

The traders in the petition also alleged that the Trade and Investment Commissioner in collaboration with the market chairman disconnected all stalls from the public power supply and imposed an Independent Power Plant Station that rips off the traders with high tariff, while those who could not afford the tariff were not permitted to connect to the public electricity source, thereby throwing most of the shops.

“It is interesting to note that the said Commissioner for Trade and Investment and his Ekeoha Shopping Centre Traders Association Chairman, Mr. Friday Dimiri, were able to achieve this wicked act of turning “EKEOHA SHOPPING CENTRE ” into a death trap with the aid of their security men whom they recruited from the existing Abia State Vigilante Services in a manner likened to that of NAPOLEON in “Animal Farm”. The duo also suppresses every opposing view at Ekeoha Shopping Centre with the aid of the recruited security men from the Abia State Vigilante Service.

“Hon Cosmos Ndukwe and Mr. Friday Dimiri negotiated with the Independent Power Plant  Station (Called Ekeoha Power Station), disconnected all stalls in the said market from linkage to EEDC electricity supply  and imposed an Independent Power Plant Station on the Traders with very high billing rate collected by them on a daily basis; so much so that the majority of the traders who cannot afford the usage of the independent power plant are not connected to it, yet, are not permitted to connect to EEDC electricity  supply thereby throwing the Shopping Centre into deep darkness also as a result of stalls built on the open spaces through which sun rays would have permeated to the walkways into the market.

“The said Commissioner for Trade and Investment with his Ekeoha Shopping Centre Traders Association Chairman, Mr. Friday Dimiri, unilaterally imposed a high rate stallage and other fees per each stall, by making an increase from Five Thousand Naira to Eight Thousand Naira.

“When the traders protested, the said Commissioner promised that 10% of the said stallage fees would be remitted back to the traders for maintenance of the market.  Regrettably, since 2019 when this regime of fees started under Hon Cosmos Ndukwe, the said Commissioner has neither remitted the said 10% to the traders nor carried out any maintenance work in the market but has also shared proceeds of this 10% with the said Chairman of the Traders Association.

“As a result of these mean and wicked acts of Hon. Cosmos Ndukwe and Mr. Friday Dimiri, the Shopping Centre is now faced with the following dire predicaments:

(I) Darkness now envelopes the stalls in the said Shopping Centre

(ii) Availability of network for easy communication has become a scarce commodity as air waves have been blocked by the compact nature of the stalls

(iii) In the event of any fire outbreak, firefighters can no longer drive their vehicle into the market to quench the fire

(iv) It has become a daily occurrence to see decked floors in the said Shopping Centre collapse, injuring traders, their customers, and damaging their goods. As a tip, on the 17th of August, 2020, a wing of stalls at Zone 11 of the said Shopping Centre collapsed and caused heavy panic among traders and all those present there then. Other examples abound, Ekeoha Shopping Centre is now a case of One Week, One Collapse of either a stall or wing of stalls.

“Ekeoha Shopping Centre was envisioned and built to avert disaster that befell Igbo Traders in 1976 when the Famous Ekeoha market was gutted by fire. Unfortunately today, the dreams of our fathers who envisioned the Shopping Centre and built it as the pride of Aba have been killed on the altar of extortion, greedy acquisition of filthy lucre on the blood of the innocents.

“In the circumstances of our Petition, our clients pray the Abia State House of Assembly for the following reliefs namely:

(a) Setting up of an Ad Hoc Committee of the Abia State House of Assembly made up of men and women with fear of God, respect for humanity and desire for truth to Investigate the contents of our allegations above by hearing from the traders and coming to the said Shopping Centre to see things for themselves.

(b) Suspension of the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Hon. Cosmos Ndukwe and the Chairman of Ekeoha Shopping Centre Traders Association, Mr Friday Dimiri, pending the completion of investigation by the Ad Hoc Committee to allow traders volunteer information to the said Committee without fear of intimidation from the said Commissioner and the Chairman of Ekeoha Shopping Centre Traders Association by themselves or through their hired men,” the petition which was read by the Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Public Petitions, Barr Emeka Okoroafor before his colleagues read in parts.

But the Trade and Investment Commissioner who is the man in the eyes of the storm, Cosmos Ndukwe who claimed that he had been tried in the media, however, said he is yet to see the petition and the allegations contained in the said petition.

“Hahahaha Inyanga dey sleep, trouble dey try wakw am… No one should turn off the microphone when I will reply because records don’t lie and we know those people that built shops in the parks and fire service lanes in Shopping Center. Tell them I say soooo!

“Records don’t lie and monies collected in the markets have receipts ok oooo!

“Make no one off mic and make them allow me to invite national and international media, hope it will be on plenary session, not quasi kangaroo Committee. Those in the glass house… hmmm.. ok na…”