FOR three days, traders at the popular Etim Edem Market in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, shut their shops over claims of extortion, battery and harassment by the management of the motor park where the market is located.
The traders, whose actions paralysed business activities at the park, said they had been harassed for long.
The Chairman of Etim Edem Traders Welfare Association, Mr. Etim Akpan, who led over 200 traders on the protest along the streets adjoining the market, called for the sacking of the management of the park led by Mr. Michael Mesembe.
He urged the Chairman of Calabar South Local Government Area, Mrs. Marjorie Asuquo, to urgently look into the matter.
Akpan said the executive members of his association had tolerated the constant humiliation by the park managers without retaliating.
He said the association could no longer bear the harassment after its Secretary, Emeka Eke, was battered.
“It is better we are managed by armed robbers than by the current management where our members are daily being subjected to battering, extortion, harassments and verbal assault by management of the park.
We will continue to protest peacefully until the authorities that put him there acts on our demand,” Akpan added.
The chairman further claimed that traders were constantly compelled by the motor park management to pay between N20, 000 and N30, 000 each time minor repairs were to be carried out on stalls.
Akpan said the last attempt to enforce the collection of one of such imposed fines resulted in the battering of Eke to the point of coma.
“The management of the park had demanded that every trader who displayed goods outside his stall should pay the sum of N20, 000 in addition to the amount paid for each stall.
“When one of the traders insisted on not paying, his goods were destroyed by the operations officer of the park. This resulted in a scuffle and when the secretary went to find out what was wrong, he was attacked,” he said.
The traders took the protest to the nearby Atakpa Police Station where they addressed the Divisional Police Office, Mr. B. Rasheed, in the presence of the Chairman of Calabar South LGA.
Rasheed promised the traders, who were battered, that the matter would be charged to court.
The council chairman said it was unfortunate that the park management that was instituted to take charge of motor vehicles in the park had overstepped its bounds by meddling into the activities of traders for the sake of extorting money.
Marjorie said, “Each time I wanted anything from the traders, I always write to them through their association and have not sent anybody to terrorise or extort money from them.
“This must stop and I am going to ensure that drastic changes are effected in the market immediately to put paid to ugly situations like this.”
She appealed to the traders to resume normal business activities while she carried out the process of reform in the market.
About The Nigerian Blogger
0 comments :
Post a Comment