Christopher Oji
Tension is brewing at the popular Auto Spare Parts and Machineries Dealers Association (ASPANDA) market at former International Trade Fair complex, Lagos, as it’s leader, Mr Daniel Oforkansi was allegedly forcefully picked by the police.
The traders are, protesting what they described as the abduction of their president by the police.
Oforkansi was picked by the police following two petitions written to them by a group of traders in the market alleging that the president and his executives embezzled some amount of money meant for electricity bill, highhandedness, falsification of the constitution and intention to perpetrate themselves as life executives of the market.
The second petition was written by Anthony Anumalu, who alleged that Oforkansi and his executives seized his container-load of goods worth over N247million.
But in a swift reaction, Oforkansi debunked the allegations, describing them as malicious and false.
He also alleged that he was abducted by policemen while he was on the way to a restaurant.
Giving a graphic account of how he was allegedly abducted by the police, Oforkansi said the law enforcement agents who should have followed due process by inviting him rather abducted him in the manner kidnappers carry out their activities.
He said: “On the fateful day, I went to eat without any police escort because I move freely as I am loved by 95 percent of the traders. I am loved because of the job I am doing in the market.
“As I was driving, I was accosted by some policemen who flagged my vehicle down. I stopped because I had no skeleton in my cupboard. I did not have to panic because of the presence of the police because I am not a thief. The moment I pulled up, the senior officer among them asked me to open the door then I did and he jumped inside the car, grabbed my phone and switched it off. I asked him what the matter was and he said I was under arrest. I asked what my offence was and he said there were two petitions written against me.
“The police officer ordered me to drive to Area E police Command in FESTAC Town. But I requested for my phone to contact my people that I was with the police, but the police officer said he wouldn’t release them to me. It was at that point that I started suspecting that I might be in the hands of kidnappers in police uniform. I requested to know whether they booked at the Trade Fair police station inside the market which was also a stone throw from where the drama was going on, but they became angry. It was the people who saw how I was being abducted that contacted the market Chief Security Officer (CSO), who contacted Trade Fair police divisional police officer and he confirmed that the policemen did not book at the station.
“Well, I was moved to Area E Command from where they took me to Abuja.
“And the questions are: why should I be abducted for mere petitions? Why should the police not follow due process and why should they forcefully take my phone without allowing me to contact my people? I want the police high command to say if I am too small to be invited for questioning? If the police had respectfully invited me, I would have honoured their invitation rather than the way I was treated like a common criminal. I was the one who calmed my people down, otherwise, something else would have happened.
“On the issue of the allegations, I want to respond by saying that those who wrote the petitions are enemies of progress. They want to cause problems in the market, but they have failed woefully because my members are wiser. #
“They alleged that I stole some money meant for electricity bill. We have a task force that deals with electricity issues; the people responsible for electricity pay with bank draft and not with cash. I am not involved in anything concerning the payment of electricity bill. Second, they talked about I perpetrating myself as a lifetime president of the market association, this is false as we have amended the constitution for a four- year-single tenure, and my tenure is expiring next year. After my tenure, I am not eligible to contest for office; so the allegation of making myself a life president is myopic and false.
“Well, for Anthony Anumalu who claimed that I seized his container of goods, his claim is false. He dropped his container at a dangerous spot and that was causing serious obstructions in the market. The task force wrote several letters of appeals, requesting that he should move it to a safer place but he bluntly refused to do the needful. It was the task force that moved it to a safer place and the container is under lock and key. Besides, he took us to the court and we also file a suit against him in another court. We have two pending cases in the court; so why should the police act on a matter that has not been decided by a competent court? I still want to let you know that those who wrote petitions against me do not have shops in the market.
“I am therefore calling on the Inspector-General of police Mr Mohammed Adamu, to order a full-scale investigation into the allegations levelled against me and also to investigate the conduct of his men who abducted me because I was abducted and treated like a common criminal for frivolous petitions.
In the first petition written by a legal practitioner, Ojay Akinwale, for Chukudi Megwa, the petitioner alleged that: “Oforkansi and his executives conspired to convert to their personal use N442,742,499.13, meant for electricity bill. They fraudulently increased electricity bills charged on the shops and offices, thereby stealing our money by conversion. We urged the IGP to use his good offices to investigate the allegation.”