Ladipo Market: Chief Onyebinanma’s Camp In Disarray, Electoral Committee Chairman Resigns As Police Orders Him To Obey Court Order

KINGSLEY EBERE

The camp of Chief Chukwuma Onyebinanma, the embattled Chairman of Aguiyi Ironsi International Market Association, has been thrown into disarray following his arrest and detention at FCID Abuja over violent attacks on traders and disobedience of Court order by conducting a failed election in the market in Lagos State.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the chairman of his electoral committee, Fatai Adefat, has resigned after he realized that himself and Chief Chukwuma Onyebinanma are on their way to prison for contempt of Court for conducting the election on 16th November, 2024, in the market in total disregard of the order of Justice A.M.Lawal of the Lagos High Court.

Chief Onyebinanma, the electoral chairman, Adefat and the security chairman were arrested and flown to Abuja over violent attacks and organizing election in the market against the order of the Court, which turned to violence before the Police intervened and restored peace in the market.

During the investigation at the FCID before the Commissioner of Police, CP Enyinnaya Adiogu, the electoral committee chairman, Adefat, told the CP in the presence of the complainants – Casmir Ulasi, Chimezie Ekeh and Lotanna Okafor a.k.a Obi Eziokwu, that he was misled by Chief Onyebinanma by coming to the market at 2am with the aid of OP MESA, the Military patrol team, to enter the market to conduct the election which led to his arrest and detention at FCID, Abuja.

He told the Police that he regretted his action and henceforth, he will not involve himself in the election issue in the market because his family was not in support of the disobeying of Court order and stated that ignorance is not an excuse for disobeying the Court order and going ahead to conduct election, which led to the fracas in the market.

The Police boss, CP Adiogu, having seen the Lagos State High Court order by Justice A.M Lawal, ordered Chief Onyebinanma to comply with the Court order and make peace with the complainants within two weeks, otherwise he will be charged for culpability for the alleged criminal offence committed against Lotanna Okafor and other traders with the available evidence of violence before the Police.

Thus, Chief Onyebinanma was released on bail following the application for his bail by a member of the House of Representatives, who stood as surety for him and promised to produce him within the time frame for him to make peace by reverting to the electoral process that is acceptable to the traders instead of his alleged data base register, which he procured to rig the election owing to his unpopularity in the market over bad leadership.

According to the traders, after he was released on bail and returned to Lagos, he realized that he has been dumped by his supporters coupled with the resignation of electoral committee chairman. He then contracted the Baba Loja of Ladipo Market, Eze Monday Lawrence, to broker peace with the opposition so that he will not go to prison as Form 48, 49 and committal have been filed to commit him and the electoral committee chairman, Fatai Adefat, to prison for contempt of Court.

The outcome of the meeting is not known yet but Chief Onyebinanma was said to have realized that the overwhelming evidence of conducting election in total disregard to Court order will land him in prison. He may have decided to make peace and probably revert to the procedure that brought him to power through shop enumeration instead of his concocted data base.

It was gathered that when Chief Chukwuma Onyebinanma returned from Abuja and went to the market, he was surprised that some of the traders were booing him after they saw the video where he was climbing the Police truck on his way to the Lagos State Command enroute Abuja. They claimed that he had desecrated the office of the Chairman hence his plan to make peace through Eze Lawrence.