BBA Market Crisis: Traders Seek Security Agencies Intervention Over Threat To Foist Illegal Government

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE   

Traders, shop owners and stakeholders operating under the aegis of Balogun Business Association, BBA, in Lagos State,  have raised alarm over rumoured threat to invade their market by thugs loyal to their former Chairman, Chief Okey Ezeibe,  who they alleged is being aided by some top corrupt Police officers.                                                                                               

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the aggrieved traders, who addressed Journalists at the Association’s  Secretariat located at the popular Lagos International Trade Fair  Complex, Badagry Expressway, Ojo, alleged that credible intelligence available to them indicated that the planned unlawful invasion of their hitherto peaceful market, would take place between Sunday 27th June, 2021 and Wednesday 28th July, 2021. 

Warning of imminent bloodshed and loss of lives of innocent traders should the alleged invasion happen, the principal stakeholders while recalling that similar attacks by the same Chief Ezeibe in the years 2005 and 2007, led to unnecessary waste of lives, vowed to ensure unprecedented resistance against unlawful take over of their market by those they said have no stake in their Association.               

The group therefore, called on the Lagos State Government, the Inspector General of Police, the Directorate of State Security Service and the State Commissioner of Police, to urgently intervene and wade into the crisis, with a view to protecting their market and forestalling possible breakdown of law and order.                                                                                                          Speaking, the Chief Security Officer, (CSO), of the Association,  Chief Celestine Emechebe, vowed that the traders would do everything within the ambit of the law to defend themselves and the market from being unlawfully taken over by those he described as touts working with Chief Ezeibe. 
                                  

“We got the information that Chief Okey Ezeibe and his opposition group, after their Kangaroo election with hooligans at the  Villa Park Hotel, have perfected their plans to unlawfully invade our market on Sunday and forcefully install his own Administration with the help of his Police friends. They will not succeed because we will resist it with all our strength. This was the same thing he did in 2005 and 2007, which led to the death of some persons.”                                                                  

While giving insight into the cause of the crisis, Emechebe stressed that, “It was Chief Ezeibe’s insistence on heading our Association’s Board Of Trustees as Chairman many years after he completed his tenure as President, contrary to the Market Constitution, which provides that the incumbent President should be Chairman. That was what started the crisis”.                                                                                                                           “Despite that I regard Chief Ezeibe as my mentor,  I have advised him privately to allow the present administration and Caretaker Committee led by Chief Anselm  Duru, to complete its term next month, to make way for a peaceful election on July 28th. But he refused to allow peace reign in the market”, Emechebe said.             

According to the Progenitor /Founding Father of BBA, Ambassador Leonard Ogbonna, who is also the Secretary of the Caretaker Committee inaugurated by the outgoing president, Chief Tony Obih, “Greed on the part of  Ezeibe, has been our problem here. I was the person that invited Ezeibe from Automobile Spare Parts Market to join us in BBA, after I and few other founding fathers had conceptualized the idea for the Association in 1990, due mainly to congestion, extortion by social miscreants and shylock landlords, who were oppressing us at our former location on Lagos  Island”.
                                                            

Lamenting at the briefing attended by other stakeholders  and aggrieved contestants in their forthcoming July 28th elections, were eminent personalities such as a Pioneer BOT Member, Chief Nicholas Okeke, High Chief  (Dr.) John Ezeakor (a.k.a  Ojiji), Contesting for the office of  President, Ogbuefi Emmanuel Otunabor, Chief Okey Ojiaku, Chief Benson Amaechi, Dr. Emeka Igbosopulu,  Hon. Elendu Ikenna, Hon. Nnamdi Okoye, Hon. Mrs.  Pauline Onuekwusi and others. 

Ambassador Ogbonnaya regreted making Ezeibe a President of the  Association in 1992, after leading the traders for two years. 
Expressing the position of the association,  he said thus: “At the expiration of Chief Tony Obih tenure as President, he could not conduct an election due to the  COVID-19 lockdown. As  stipulated in our Constitution, the outgoing administration then inaugurated a Caretaker Committee heeded by Hon. Anselm Duru. After the expiration of the Constitutional two months lifespan of the committee, we approached a Badagry Magistrate Court for an extension, which was granted until July 31, 2021 and upheld by a Federal High  Court. We have appointed a Constitutional Returning Officer by the name of Chief G. O. Umunnabuike, who has instituted an Electoral Panel already working with our elections fixed  for July 28th, next month”.     

Questioning the validity of the elections purportedly held at Villa Park Hotel,  Amb. Ogbonna queried, “Why is Ezeibe creating confusion by conducting illegal elections outside BBA Market and employing an obnoxious CAC decision, which has been upturned by an order of a Federal High Court?”                                                  
Collaborating Ogbonna’s position,  Chief Nicholas Okeke, said 80 percent of the market population of over 15,000 members trading in their market did not attend the illegal elections conducted at the hotel.                                                                          

Contributing, High Chief (Dr.)  John Ezeakor,  who is a popular front runner presidential candidate in the forthcoming market polls, noted that what happened at the Villa Park hotel,  was a charade; selection and not  election, as most of the aspirants were not informed.                                                                                                                          

For Ogbuefi Otunabor, Chief Ojiaku, Dr. Igbosopulu, Hon. Elendu and Hon. Okoye, they slammed Ezeibe thus, “We were not informed about the sham they called elections. Elections are not and have never been conducted outside the Market. It was unconstitutional and out of the  five presidential aspirants, only two were selected and invited. We are looking forward to the July 28th elections, which we believe the outcome would be acceptable to all the traders, they stated. 

Checking the pulse of traders seen clustered in different groups at the Multi billion Naira Market,  there were palpable fears of alleged threat of invasion, this is  even as a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has stepped into the long-running crisis in Balogun Business Association.

The Court granted the application of the association on June 24th by its leadership, led by Chief Anselm Dunu, to quash a purported decision of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), revoking the current Certificate of Registration of the Association.

The application of the association is for orders of certiorari, prohibition and injunction arising from a letter addressed by the commission to some of the lawyers involved in the imbroglio.

The order followed an application made by six members of the market for themselves as incumbent Chairman and Secretary, respectively, of Caretaker Committee of the association representing other incumbent members of the committee upon an ex-parte motion seeking an order granting leave to them to quash the letter issued by revoking and cancelling the certificate of registration of the association.

After hearing the case, the Court therefore, ordered a leave to be granted to the applicant for orders of certiorari, prohibition and injunction against the respondent within seven days of the order.

It will be recalled that traders at the multi-billion-naira market had raised the alarm over an alleged plan by a group to conduct elections into the leadership of their association outside the market and called on security agencies to urgently intervene to avoid bloodbath.

The aggrieved traders alleged of a plan to foist an illegal leadership on the association through election outside their market and vowed to stop it.