S/East Traders Condemn Invasion Of Markets By Biafran Agitators

Traders under the auspices of South-East Amalgamated Market Traders
Association (SEAMATA) yesterday said that they support the Biafran
move­ment and would never disown it, but condemned the invasion of
their markets by the pro-Biafra agitators.

The President-General of SEAMA­TA, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, in a
statement signed with the secretary Mr. Temple Udeh, said that in as
much as the traders support the movement for Biafran state, it
condemned the attitude of the pro-Biafra agitators/ protesters that
was infiltrated by miscreants.

The traders stated that the invasion of the markets by Biafra
supporters in the name of protest, which led to vandalisa­tion and
destruction of shops, vehicles and other valuables belonging to their
fellow Igbos was not only condemnable but unacceptable.

According to the traders, "to set the record straight and for the
purposes of clarity, the traders are not challenging the
constitutional right of peaceful as­sembly of any one. We only
condemned the attitude of the protesters (or mis­creants that
infiltrated them) that went into markets chased the traders out and
closed the entrances to the market.

"It was the maturity of the leadership that directed the security men
in these markets not to challenge them that fore­stalled casualties.
The protest was not peaceful as it recorded casualities. If the
Pro-Biafra protesters held their protest in a field or any stadium,
there wouldn't have been any issue to warrant all these
misrepresentation of intentions", they stated.

The traders recalled that when it pro­tested the alleged relocation of
Boko Haram detainees to Anambra State, the protesters went on without
harassing or disturbing anybody going about his of her businesses,
adding that when the entire South East traders protested, and another
protest took place in Ekwulobia stadium, no individual was molested
unlike the pro-Biafra protesters.

"We all are Igbos, both traders and protesters, and are not in
contention that the problem of one Igbo man shall attract the sympathy
of the other: say­ing this, is stressing the obvious. But it is
against natural justice and fairness to create a more difficult
problem as a so­lution to an existing one."

-TheSunNews