Eke-Oha: A 'Mad Man's' Triangular War
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By EMMANUEL IFEANYI (New Telegraph )
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He is known as a mad man. But his recent outburst at a
popular electronic and fashion market in Aba, is now a subject of controversy
that has roped in political opponents of the state governor, the chairman of
the market and traders. EMMANUEL IFEANYI reports from Aba
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An Igbo adage said that "in a mad world, only the mad are
sane." This is not far from the situation at the Eke-Oha Market, the number one
fashion and electronics market in Aba, Abia State, popularly known as Shopping
Centre.
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The relationship between the traders and the leadership of
the market has been in a precarious situation following accusations of diverse
level of illegalities including excessive levies, intimidation and incessant
arrest of every opposing voices.
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New Telegraph gathered that the Eke-Oha Traders Association
Chairman, Mr. Friday Dimiri and a group known as "Concerned Traders" have being
in total disagreement over the alleged authoritarian manner he has being
running the affairs of the market.
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Things however turned to a full blown crisis on August 27,
when a popular 'mad man,' who specializes in criticizing political leaders,
came into the market and was given a VIP treatment to publicly lambast the
state Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, tagging his government fraudulent and useless
in a video that went viral.
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Just a day after that mad man exhibited his activism inside
the market, stories began to emerge that the lunatic was sponsored to do what
he did. That led to arrest of the mad man.
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It didn't take long after his arrest, a counter video of the
same mad man in a room alleged to be the market Chairman's office emerged as he
was reading out names of traders he alleged paid him N10,000 to come to the
market and insult Ikpeazu.
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New Telegraph gathered that the counter video caused serious
pandemonium in the market as all the names listed by the mad man incidentally
were names of the Concerned Traders, who do not agree with the market Chairman
and his style of administration.
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The counter video later took a political undertone when the
same mad man linked the accused persons to the governorship candidate of the
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti.
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In the video, the mad man alleged that all the people he
mentioned their names work for Alex Otti, who is battling it out with Ikpeazu
in the tribunal, stressing that they want to destabilize the governor's
administration.
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At this juncture, when the whole madness has reached its
crescendo, the Concerned Traders led by their spokesman, Hon. Ugochukwu Oriaku,
called for a Press Conference, where they told their own story.
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Oriaku, who spoke in pains, accused the Chairman of the
market of being responsible for the first coming of the mad man into the market
and thereafter, decided to use the second video to indict them because they
have been opposing his excesses.
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In his words: "Our problems with Friday Dimiri didn't start
today. He wants to use this last insane move to tag all of us enemy of our good
governor, who recently saved us from one of his illegal extortionist levies.
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"The true enemy of government is the man who abandons the
duties of his office as our Chairman and now uses the name of government or his
little connection with government to defraud, intimidate, frame and dehumanize
fellow citizens of which the government knows absolutely nothing about.
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"We found out that the welfare of the traders are not his
priority because he's only interested in the allocations from ministry and
other money coming in which he showcased by building illegal structures at all
corners of the market and since he became Chairman, he has gotten close to 35
shops in his name.
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"Since he became the Chairman after writing petitions
against former Chairman Augustine Ikpeamaze and Ada Obasi which led to their
removal, 98 per cent of traders have not had any rest."
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Oriaku alleged that Dimiri started his intimidation moves by
introducing Bakassi Boys into the market as his personal security, which he
uses to brutalize whoever opposes him.
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He stressed that their interest in the whole thing was for
government to remove Dimiri as Chairman since it was government that appointed
him, adding that he does not have the interest of the traders at heart.
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He continued: "We kept managing him until the 22nd of June
when he came to erect illegal structures in our own electronics line late in the
evening when the traders have gone home, using same Bakassi to brutalize
everybody who got information about the issue, giving people machete cuts.
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"The whole problems got hotter not quite long ago. There's a
road inside the market which we call flower pot. It's not more than two poles.
Friday Dimiri poured asphalt on it with our money and now turns around to give
order that every shop along that road will pay huge money.
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"There are up to 400 shops downstairs, he said they'll pay
N200,000, while the ones upstairs will pay N100,000 to him each. He gave
instruction that come or before 20th of August that the money must be paid to
him.
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"But on the 8th of August, our governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu,
through his Chief Press Secretary, Onyebuchi Ememanka, made a statement that
nobody should pay that money and even went ahead to give him order to refund
those who must have paid, but Dimiri defied the governor's order and kept
insisting we must pay."
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Speaking further, Oriaku said: "On the 27th of August, we
answered to the invite of the Aba Area Command that there's a petition against
us by Friday Dimiri, who petitioned that we want to kidnap and kill him. We
went and Area Command, after hearing us released us to go. On the same 27th,
the governor visited some markets in commemoration of the 28th anniversary of
the creation of Abia State.
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"He took us unawares when he appeared exactly at that flower
pot and made another pronouncement that nobody should pay a dime. By the time
of his visit, we were at Area Command answering on a petition against us.
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"On the same day, we were granted bail at Area Command,
Dimiri transferred the petition to Zone-9 Umuahia. On the 28th of August, I was
in Zone-9 as well to answer on the petition of attempted killing and
kidnapping.
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"They granted me bail the same day and asked me to bring
other persons mentioned in the petition which is the same name he wrote to Area
Command. We all went there on the second and stayed there till late because
they said they were coming to our various houses for search which they did.
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"We returned back to Zone-9 after the search by 11pm and
there's no way they would release us the same day. They gave us a space where
we slept till next day. They brought him and asked us to go outside and settle
and we all went home.
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"All of a sudden, I was told that a madman mentioned my name
in a video. He sent the video to me. That was when the whole plans came clearer
to us. His Excellency, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu came on the 27th of August to make
that announcement which favoured all the traders and everyone was happy.
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"Then on the 29th of August, he, Friday Dimiri and his
cohorts brought a mad man to come and speak against the governor, so that he
could deceive the government to think that it was the traders that brought the
mad man to castigate the same government that saved us from his impunity, so
that he could provoke the governor to reverse the decision to enable him force
us to pay the N200,000 levy per shop as he desired.
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"Now, tell me how we the traders who were very grateful for
what the governor did by saving us from our extortionist Chairman now turn
around to work against him? It was Friday Dimiri that concocted all the lies."
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Oriaku went on to say that the most embarrassing thing about
that video is that the mad man said he doesn't know the original name of those
that paid him to insult the governor and later went ahead to call my own
original name. How did he know my original name?"
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According to him: "All the names he petitioned to the Area
Command and Zone-9 were the same names he wrote down to his recruited mad man
to call as enemies of Abia State government."
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"He took our names to Area Command and they found us not
guilty. He took our names to Zone-9 and they also found us innocent. He now
decided to take our names to the court of a mad man who now declared us guilty.
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"Some time ago, he used our money to erect a building for
one widow at Ohanze, his Community, claiming it was the first lady that
instructed the traders to build for the widow, because Ohanze incidentally is
the home of our dear first lady, Deaconess Nkechi Ikpeazu, whom we later found
out doesn't know anything about the whole issue. But Friday Dimiri has been
spoiling her good name there at the market claiming he is her brother.
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"This First Lady, whom we all know is a loving mother, a caring
woman and a woman who loves the traders and we all love and respect her.
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When contacted with all the allegations leveled against him,
Mr. Friday Dimiri, the Chairman of Eke-Oha Market Traders Association, bluntly
declined to comment on the matter, which is currently causing serious problems
to the lives of the traders mentioned, their families and friends.
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Further investigation by New Telegraph revealed that it was
the same mad man that poured serious criticism against the government of Owelle
Rochas Okorocha in his second tenure, prior to the 2019 election and may have
relocated to Abia State.
