Suleiman Anyalewechi, Aba
In an apparent bid to allegedly cover up most of the under hand dealings in the now contentious remodelling and reconstruction of some sections of the Ariaria International Market in Aba, some forces are believed to have concluded plans to stage a counter protest march to the one organized on Tuesday June 27th, 2023 by aggrieved traders whose shops were demolished to make way for the exercise in 2021, NewsCritic online can authoritatively reveal.
It could be recalled that on Tuesday June 27, NewsCritic online had exclusively reported a massive protest by the original shop owners at A, B and Medicine lines demanding the return of their shops.
The over 20,000 traders whose shops numbering over 5000 were felled accused the immediate past administration of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu of deliberately dispossessing them of their prized assets and sharing them to government officials and political cronies, without any compensations to them. They had also demanded that the new administration of Dr Alex Otti should wade in to ensure the return of their shops in line with the assurances given to them at the beginning of the exercise.
However, an impeccable source has revealed that some forces behind the exercise which has turned sour, and who are not comfortable with the vocal stand of the aggrieved traders and shop owners are set to hold a counter protest on Friday, June 30th using paid and rented protesters.
NewsCritic online gathered that the protest march is allegedly being heavily supported by the contracting firm, Blessed Henken and some past officials of the market, ostensibly to divert attention, beguile the authorities and create the impression that the earlier protesters are interlopers.
NewsCritic online reports that the Developer and contracting firm, Blessed Henken had given the impression that funding of the project would be solely handled by it with the shop owners paying back in instalment.
But findings have revealed that the contracting firm has not invested any money in the project, rather had relied on the traders whose initial payment of 25000 Naira registration fee formed the financial foundation of the exercise.
“When the contract came, we were told that he came with billions of naira. That he will reconstruct and then hand over the shops to the traders who will then pay back in instalments. The amount we were told for each shop was between N2 million and N3 million. But with time, we realized that the contractor came with no kobo and only commenced the project with the N25000 registration fee we paid earlier.
When that one finished, they started to allot our shops to the highest bidders and strange bodies at between N6million and N7million to raise more money.
Now after our protest on Tuesday (June 27) they have gone to recruit some people to come and hold a counter protest on Friday (June30) to deceive the government and the public. We are waiting, “an authoritative source revealed.
NewsCritic online findings have revealed that the planned counter protest allegedly scheduled for 11am tomorrow, June 30 is not going down well with the original shop owners. There are palpable fears that unless the authorities wade in the protest march may snowball into a breakdown of law and other.
The management of the contracting firm Blessed Henken, headed by one Henry, could not be reached for comments as at the time of reporting on Thursday June 29.