Traders at Afor Oru Timber/Building Materials Market, Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, have staged a protest against the activities of a land grabber in the area.
At a protest march that took place in the community recently, the traders alleged that the land grabber, Mr. Akachi Onyeneke was using his profession as a lawyer to intimidate and dispossess genuine individual and community landowners.
To avert an imminent crisis in the area, they called on the authorities of Mbaise Local Government Area and Imo State Government to intervene in order to check the shenanigans of the man they described as notorious.
The traders, who came out in their numbers, carried placards with different inscriptions such as “We want peace and not violence,” “Oh God, deliver us from the evil plans of our enemies,” and “Barrister Akachi, Stop Intimidating Your People.”
According to the Chairman of the market association, Chief Leo Ibe, Akachi is notorious in this community. He encroaches on people’s lands at will, claiming he had bought them. This impunity must stop.
Corroborating the views of Ibe, another market leader, Chief Jeosophat Okoro stated that Akachi claims to have bought community spaces where markets had been held from time immemorial.
“Does an individual own a market?”, he queried.
Giving an insight into the protest, another official of the market, Mr. Chimobi Agbizu said the protest was to draw the attention of the relevant authorities to the brewing crisis in the community to avoid an escalation.
His words: “Akachi is stoking a conflagration and the consequences are dire. The end result of this land grabbing enterprise being directed by Akachi will not do anyone any good. The Imo State government and Mbaise Local Government Area must intervene to save the people of Ahiazu from this developing crisis being stoked by one man. It is a needless crisis that the authorities can nip in the bud.”
Maritime Bits checks revealed that Afor Oru Ahiara Timber/Building Materials Market is a popular market where the people of Ahiazu and neighbouring communities as well as about nine local government areas in Imo State depend on for their timber and other building material needs.
