Electronics dealers decry closure of Onitsha Market

Prosper

Traders in Onitsha International Electronics Market have decried the closure of the market by the Anambra State Urban Development Board.

The Secretary of the market, Mr Damian Ogudike, told newsmen in Onitsha on Thursday that the closure was “illegal and unwarranted.”

Ogudike said the traders had lost millions of naira due to the action of the board.

He however, called on Governor Willie Obiano to investigate the action of the board, adding that the traders did not deserve such maltreatment.

Ogudike said, “We call on Governor Willie Obiano to investigate the illegal activities of ASUDEB.

“The General Manager of ASUDEB and his team would have been lynched by traders when they were locking up the gates but for my intervention.

“How can they block the access road which is a service lane that leads to our market from Onitsha-Enugu Expressway through Uga road to Obodo-Ukwu road and then into our market and others.

“Envoy Oil Company dumps waste materials on the service lane and we used our own money to remove the waste and construct drains that help to control the flood in the market.”

However, the General Manager of the board, Mr Nathan Enemuo, said he locked the gates on the directive of the Commissioner for Lands, Mrs. Stella Onuorah.

“Before we locked the gates, we served them with revocation notice because the gates were not part of the plan of the market.

“Also, the market and industries are not compatible to stay in one place according to the master plan of the area,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the officials of ASUDEB led by the general manager early on Monday, locked up the entrance and exit gates to the market.
Source: Punch