History was made in Owerri, the Imo State capital, recently with the relocation of the Eke-Ukwu Owerri market by the state government after decades of futile attempts.
Previous administrations made spirited efforts to relocate the market from its location at Douglas Road in the very heart of the capital city to make way for the expansion of the critical road to check traffic congestion and criminal activities.
But the efforts were resisted by traders who hid under clannish sentiments.
The battle line was once again drawn between Governor Rochas Okorocha and the traders in the ancient market when he announced his intention to relocate the market.
For more than two years, the statement engaged the Owerri indigenes who see the market as an ancestral heritage on the need to demolish the market. But they will not have any of that. To them the market is a sacred institution for which they are emotionally attached.
This defiant position, which was further strengthened by political incitement, emboldened the traders who vowed to resist any attempt to relocate them from the market.
Another reason advanced for the refusal by the people of Owerri to allow the relocation of the market, was the easy monies made by the youths and elders through the collection of multiple levies in the market.
But the government had insisted that the market, which has spilled into the Douglas road, is constituting nuisance and security risks in the state capital.
The muscle flexing between the government and the Owerri leaders continued for about two years. To throw spanner in the wheels of the State government’s plan, the Owerri indigenes, sought and obtained a Court Order restraining the government and any other person from trespassing into the market.
But at last the government ran out of patience with the adamant traders after they had ignored countless directives to evacuate their wares from the market.
So penultimate Saturday, before the break of dawn, the once sprawling market has been reduced to rumbles. Caterpillars roared, traders scurry in confusion as they dashed into the falling structures to salvage anything they can.
The atmosphere was tense, tears rained, traders recoil in anguish as they watched from afar as the rampaging machines devour the buildings.
When the government issued the last 48 hours directive to quit the market the traders as usual waved it off as one of the usual feeble attempts. Some of halfheartedly tried to evacuate their merchandise, while many others began the mother of all protest by barricading the entire market on Friday night and setting bonfire on the Douglas road.
But there was massive mobilization of security men including Mobile Policemen, Army, Department of State Security (DSS), as well as the State security outfit, Imo Security Network by the government in anticipation of violent resistance by the traders.
The exercise was led by the Deputy Chief of Staff (operation) to the governor, Engr. Kingdley Uju and heads of the various security agencies in the state.
Stranded traders, who could not evacuate their goods before the deadline given by the State government, defied the hail of bullets fired by the security operatives to disperse Owerri youths who had mobilized to resist the demolition exercise as they scurry to salvage their merchandise.
Scores sustained wounds, a ten-year-old boy, Somtochukwu Ibeanusi, was killed by stray bullet allegedly shot by the soldiers deployed to the market for the exercise.
As the caterpillars pulled down the shops, there was massive looting of goods as suspected hoodlums took advantage of the chaos to cart away millions of naira worth of goods, mostly expensive phones and other electronics.
Some of the traders, who were watching the demolition from afar, lamented that they were not given enough time to evacuate their goods before the demolition.
They accused the security men of colluding with hoodlums to loot their goods, adding that, “how can they be shooting at traders who are trying to evacuate their goods. As we speak, over five traders have sustained bullet wounds”.
The President-General of the market, Felix Ngoka, had during a press briefing on Friday, vowed that the traders will resist the demolition of the market with their lives, adding that they will not tolerate the defiance of an existing Court Order by the state government.
He also claimed that “our ancestors had warned sternly against the relocation of the market and we will not succumb to any pressure to relocate the market because if we do calamity will befall us. It is better we die resisting it”.
A trader, Mr. Uche Kamsochi, whose shop was among the first to be demolished, said
Meanwhile there were pockets of confrontations as protesting Owerri youths feebly tried to resist the exercise. They were tear gassed and those that were unlucky to be caught were beaten up and whisked away by waiting Police vans.
Meanwhile, some hoodlums attempted to loot the popular bureau de change popularly known as ‘Ama Hausa’, when they set it ablaze and chased away the bureau de change operators before soldiers arrived and cordoned off the entire area.
The state government described the exercise as peaceful and successful.
In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, the state government said: “The action was a peaceful one and with the relocation of the Market to a better area, the government will now go ahead to rebuild Douglas road and realize its lofty dream of making Owerri a befitting city”.
According to the statement, “this is to inform the general public that Ekeukwu Market Owerri has finally been moved from its current location at the centre of Owerri, the state capital, to its new location at Ohi near Owerri amid jubilation by patriotic residents. The relocation of the market is in line with the Urban Renewal programme of the state government.
“The market was moved Saturday morning and for almost two years the state government has announced its good intension to relocate the market to a more conducive site in the spirit of its Urban Renewal pursuit.
“The government has taken this noble action to equally recover Douglas road that connects the state with other neighbouring states which has remained a refuse dump for the traders in the market and to deal with once and for all the prevalent criminal activities in the area like robbery, cultism and kidnapping”.
It concluded that, “the governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and the Rescue Mission Government which he heads, commend the traders and the people of the state in general for their cooperation and understanding. By the peaceful conduct of the traders, they have shown that they appreciate government’s intension to make Owerri and enviable state capital”.
