Tension has engulfed Onitsha following reports that operatives of the Anambra State OCHA Brigade allegedly opened fire at the busy Onitsha Main Market, Emeka Offor Plaza axis, on Tuesday, September 9, leaving four people, including a pregnant woman, dead.
The OCHA Brigade, a state-run enforcement agency responsible for ensuring environmental sustainability, enforcing cleanliness and order, and promoting public health, reportedly stormed the market to compel traders to remove their wares from unauthorized spaces.
Eyewitnesses said an argument broke out between the officials and some traders, which escalated and resulted in gunfire. Tragically, four people were killed in the incident.
“This is heartbreaking. Four innocent people who left their homes this morning have been cut down in cold blood. Among them is a pregnant woman. Anambra people are now living in fear because criminals have been handed guns and uniforms in the name of government enforcement,” a distraught trader told reporters.
As of press time, neither the state governor nor the police command had issued an official response. Meanwhile, some traders have staged a protest within the market to express outrage over the killings.