From EMMANUEL UZOR, Onitsha

Following the recent clash between members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and traders at the Old Motor Spare Parts (Mgbuka) market in the commercial city of Onitsha, seven regional administrators of MASSOB have been suspended by its leadership over their alleged involvement in the fracas. 

The leader of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, announced the suspension of the leaders yesterday after an emergency meeting on the clash during which he also inaugurated a peace and reconcliatory committee to meet with the market leaders.

Chief Uwazuruike regretted the clash between his men and the traders, adding that the seven suspended regional administrators were given marching orders over their suspected complicity in the crisis.

He apologized to the traders on the unfortunate attack on them by some overzealous MASSOB members, adding that the peace committee, led by the National Director of Information, Uchenna Madu and a Catholic priest would soon meet with market leaders to find a way of settling the matter.

“After our meeting, we resolved that a panel of enquiry be set up to look into the activities of MASSOB in the commercial city of Onitsha and the constant clashes with traders and security agents and anybody that is found wanting will be dealt with and expelled from the organization.

“The aim is to bring sanity in the struggle, we remain the only genuine pressure group that is championing the true cause of Ndigbo and therefore cannot be the same to oppress them. I have ordered for immediate suspension of seven regional administrators in Onitsha because of their roles in the constant clashes,” he said.

It was gathered that the affected regional administrators are Mr. Stephen Ahaneku in charge of Onitsha South, Emmanuel Omenka (Ogbaru), Vincent Ilo (Onitsha North), Donatus Nweke (Anambra West), Osondu Okwaraeke (Anambra East) and Innocent Kalu (Oyi).

Chief Uwazuruike appealed to the traders to calm down and receive the peace delegation, urging them to go about their normal business without fear of molestation.

In a swift reaction, the Chairman of Old Motor Spare Parts, Mgbuka, Chief Ifeanyi Okafor, said the traders harboured no hatred for MASSOB but merely reacted when activities of the group were becoming overbearing.

He said: “We don’t have anything against MASSOB, they are our brothers and we treat them as such. The traders expressed their anger when it became so bad that they could not do their business without being molested, brutalized and even killed by these hoodlums on the guise of MASSOB.

“We had initiated this peace deal, invited the leadership of MASSOB in Onitsha to know what we can do to make them stop harassing us and our customers, but the peace deal did not go down well with them, hence they kept on killing us and using dangerous weapons on us. That was why the traders reacted when they were pushed to the wall.”

Source: Sun