KINGSLEY EBERE
Police Intelligence operatives from the Tactical team in Surulere, Lagos, have began manhunt for the Chairman of Aguiyi Ironsi International Spare Parts Market Association, Chief Chukwuma Onyebinanma a.k.a Ikukuoma, who was said to have gone into hiding over alleged violent attack on another trader, Mr. Lotanna Okafor, inside the market.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that this happened barely few days after Onyebinanma was released on bail at IRT office at the Force Headquarters in Abuja over use of violence by force of arms to retain power in the market by attacking some traders, Uche Eze a.k.a Baba Ido and Izuchukwu Ikeuba, who allegedly wrote petitions against him and members of his task force.
Ikukuoma was said to have become violent after he lost his goodwill and popularity with the traders due to poor leadership and he was said to have resort to violence to retain power. He was alleged to have empowered members of his task force to use force of violence on perceived enemies in the market, which has caused serious tension in the market recently.
The latest manhunt for him was as a result of the brutal attack on Mr. Lotanna Okafor, popularly known as Obi Eziokwu, while he was attempting to attend the General Meeting of the market association. The members of the task force attacked and inflicted injury on him while they also destroyed his expensive medicated glasses in the process.
The Chairman was initially said to have gone to the Tactical team office, was granted an administrative bail and asked to come back with his task force chairman for further investigation over the allegations of armed violence, assault, intimidation and harassment against him by the complainant.
According to the traders, the evidence provided by the complaintant was said to be overwhelming against him.
Since then, Chief Onyebinanma was said to have gone into hiding to escape prosecution should he be found culpable in the course of investigation.
Onyebinanma, who is the prime suspect with his task force chairman in the latest petition by Mr. Okafor, was said to have been running helter skelter seeking for help on how to resolve the matter.
He was said to have also gone to a popular Igbo traditional leader in Ijegun area of Lagos seeking for his support and intervention in order to make peace with the aggrieved traders in the market.
According to some of the traders, the embattled Chairman, Ikukuoma, became brutal after he destroyed his good will when he took over and became unpopular in the market while wanting to contest for a second tenure. And having realized that he may likely lose in the coming election, he resorted to violence against perceived opposing traders coupled with the sudden introduction of ID cards issued only to his supporters in order to disenfranchise his opponents.
When the traders and some of the chairmanship aspirants protested, he became brutal and started using members of his task force to harass and intimidate them having percieved them as enemies in the market.
Speaking to P.M.EXPRESS, Onyebinanma, who denied all the allegations, was unable to deny the use of arms such as knives and cutlasses by his task force and preventing known members of the association from attending meetings. He claimed that he introduced the use of data base and ID cards to know their members and for security reasons. However, he was unable to explain why he introduced it especially the ID cards at the period the market wants to conduct an election he is interested in.
He also denied sending any person or the task force to attack Mr. Okafor but acknowledged that Okafor was actually attacked by the task force based on his instruction not to allow members without ID cards to attend meetings.
Chief Ikukuoma stated:
“On 18th July, 2024, when I was about to preside over our monthly meeting, I got a call informing me that some people held a meeting and they were coming to disrupt my own meeting with thugs and cultists. I called my task force chairman to explain the matter and insisted that nobody without their ID cards should be allowed to attend the meeting. Later people with machetes, daggers and other weapons started coming out from everywhere. My task force protected the market by using their knives and cutlasses to chase them away. Not knowing this was all planned, they snapped them with the knives when they were chasing the thugs. After everything, they wrote a petition to the IRT Abuja, and CP Surulere.”
He also confirmed that he had visited the Tactical team at Surulere and was asked to come back with the task force chairman, but he was unable to go over fear of prosecution according to sources in the market.