Traders at the Ozomagana Building Materials Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, have dismissed reports alleging that police operatives from the Onitsha Area Command raided shops in the market at night and seized goods worth more than N50 million.

The allegations, which circulated on social media and were reported by some media platforms, claimed that some policemen attached to the Area Command invaded shops in the market without search warrants, court orders or other official documents authorising the operation.

The reports further alleged that the raids were usually conducted around 10:00 p.m., when most traders and their workers had left the market, making it easier for the operatives to allegedly remove goods from the affected shops.

However, the leadership of the Ozomagana Building Materials Market Traders Association rejected the claims, describing them as false, unfounded and capable of damaging the relationship between traders and the police.

The chairman of the association, Obiora Okoro, and its Secretary, Patrick Obiekwe, separately told journalists at the weekend that they were shocked by the reports.

According to them, neither the association nor its members were aware of any recent raid in which police officers allegedly confiscated goods worth more than N50 million from a shop in the market.

They expressed surprise at the claim that goods valued at over N50 million were allegedly removed from a single shop, identified as Shop 52, in one night.

The market executives said the reports appeared to be a deliberate attempt to tarnish the reputation of the Onitsha Area Commander, ASP Temitope Fasugba, and undermine the cordial relationship that has existed between the police and traders in the market.

“We are not aware of such an allegation coming from the market, neither are we aware of any member of the association who goes by the name Nnanunyelugo Elias, who spoke on behalf of the traders,” they said.

A trader who spoke on condition of anonymity also dismissed the allegation, saying no such raid had taken place in the market recently.

“Those who sponsored that false report want to get at the Area Commander, ASP Temitope Fasugba,” the trader said.

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Nnanna Oji Ama, has ordered a full investigation into the allegations of midnight raids and the seizure of goods by police operatives in the market.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said in a statement yesterday that the commissioner considered the allegations serious and had directed that the necessary investigative process be activated.

The police said the outcome of the investigation would help establish the facts surrounding the allegations and determine whether any misconduct occurred.