By Ozioruva Aliu, BENIN CITY

AN in-house commotion has hit the traders in Edo State following plots and counter-plots to unseat the leadership of the Edo State Market Women Association, headed by Mrs. Blacky Ogiamen, over alleged politicization of the organisation and price increases.

Sources said some market men and women hatched a plan to install one pastor, Mrs. Josephine Ebhaguejezele, the Iyaloja of Edo Market, as practised in Lagos and other states.

They accused Ogiamen of being political with the support she gave the government of Mr.   Godwin Obaseki, and the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in the just-concluded governorship election, Dr Asue Ighodalo.

She is also accused of being responsible for the high cost of foodstuffs in the state capital because of the proliferation of associations on  different foodstuffs, and commodities sold in the markets.

In July this year, Ogiamen led other traders to the streets to  protest  an alleged plan by the Iyaloja of Lagos, to impose Ebhaguejezele as the Iyaloja of Edo Market.

She stated: “We are saying no to the illegal inauguration of Iyaloja of Edo State. There is a law guiding the State  Market  Women  Association. We are the authentic  market  women in Edo State and I lead the association. This association has existed for several decades, right from the reign of Oba Akenzua II till the present Oba.

“When any leader dies, the assistant will take over. During the reign of Oba Erediauwa, he called us to the palace and said I should lead the  market  women  association in Edo State, since then, there has been peace in this association in Edo State.

“We are not politicians, we are voters. We support any government in power. When Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was the governor, we supported him throughout his tenure. We supported Lucky Igbinedion, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, and this government. That is how we have been piloting the affairs without crisis.

“Recently, we heard that they want to inaugurate a different president for the Edo State  Market  Women  Association. The Oba of Benin is our grand patron, while the governor is our patron. Our constitution states that only death can remove any leader of the Market Women  Association in Edo State. It is not political.”

The association’s coordinators in the 18 local government areas reaffirmed their loyalty and passed a vote of confidence in Mrs.  Ogiamen’s leadership.

Market women storm Oba of Benin palace,  demand sack of leaders

Lately,  market  women,  who claimed to be aggrieved members of the association and Traders Welfare Union moved against the association’s leadership after accusing Ogiamien of corrupt practices. 

The members demanded Ogiamien’s sack in a peaceful  protest at the palace of the Oba of Benin, where they displayed placards, reflecting their concerns.

The Edo Traders Welfare Union spokesperson, Comrade Lucky Orukpe, called for the immediate removal of Edo  Market  Women  Association leaders, citing alleged highhandedness and failure to render accounts of the association’s finances.  

Orukpe alleged that the funds include the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One hundred million naira) donated to the association by Senator Adams Oshiomhole as governor of the state years ago, which the leader has yet to account for.

Another leader in one of the  markets, Mrs. Patience Asuen, passed a ‘no confidence vote’ in the organisation’s leadership, prompting them to seek the intervention of the paramount traditional ruler in the state.

Benin palace chiefs sue for peace

Speaking on behalf of the Benin palace chiefs, the Oyeoba of Benin, Chief Isaac Oghafua Oyeoba, assured the peaceful  protesters  that the Oba of Benin, the life patron of the union, would ensure justice.

Oyeoba, flanked by other chiefs, cautioned the protesters  against violence and advised them to conduct their activities peacefully.

Angry traders storm EFCC,  submit a fresh petition

A few weeks earlier, the same protesters were at the Benin Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to protest against Ogiamen,   accusing her of alleged corruption and calling on her to account for the stated N100 million.

They also called on the EFCC to investigate the allegation.

The traders submitted a petition to the EFCC with Orukpe claiming they had submitted a similar petition in 2013, but the EFCC ignored it.

Orukpe said: “Since Adams Oshiomhole released N100 million to Edo  market  women in the 18 local government areas in the state, no  market  woman  from Edo North received a kobo. We only found one woman from Edo South who claimed she was given N50,000. This is grave injustice.

“The money was handed over to Madam Blacky Ogiamien to disburse to the traders. In our research since 2013, no  market  womanfrom Edo North benefitted. We only saw one  woman from Edo Central who  protested to our office and said she got N50,000 from Blacky Ogiamien.

“As we speak today, we still have people who sell pure water in the  market. They did not benefit from the money. We are here in the EFCC office to act on the petition; we give them seven days to act on the petition; if EFCC does not act on the petition, we will protest at Abuja.”

EFCC receives fresh petition, promises to act

In his response, EFCC’s spokesperson, Mr. Williams Osaghae, urged them to remain calm, saying the Commission would do the right thing concerning the petition.

I didn’t cause a price increase — Madam Ogiamen  

Madam Blacky Ogiamen dismissed the protests against her leadership, describing the protesters as unemployed individuals hired by politicians to cause chaos in the markets. She stated that they have no connection to the association.

“Our association is not partisan; we are not religious. We support every government in power. Those passing a vote of no confidence in me are not part of us. How can they judge me when they are not part of us? They are not our members; politicians employed them to cause trouble.

“In Benin City today, there are many associations, but this is not part of us, so how can a group that is not part of us want to say they are passing a vote of no confidence in me? They are not in any position to to do that. Our association is not political, not religious, and we support any government in power.

“All of us are voters and any sitting governor is our patron or father. These people are doing this because they claim we supported Obaseki, he is our patron, so we support him. This new governor that we have, once he is sworn in, becomes our patron and we will support him until he leaves office.

“We are a registered association, who registered Lucky Orukpe’s trader welfare union? Is he the only man in Benin? He should go to his village.”

On the cost of foodstuffs, she said:   “They just increased the fuel price, so am I the one that has done that, do you not know that these people are hired and they can say anything? As their leader, I have never been to any market to fix the price of goods, I do not have that power, it is how they buy that determines how much they sell their goods.

“The various associations form themselves and we have been trying to stop them, but it is their right to form associations.”

Ogiamen not responsible for price hike – Okojie, scribe

The Secretary of the Edo State Market Women Association, Mrs. Maureen Okojie also said that Ogiamien was not responsible for the hike in commodities in Edo.

She explained that the increase in pump price of petrol and other factors caused the high cost of commodities.

Mrs. Okojie maintained that inflation was a global issue with Nigeria’s case being more severe because of the increments in pump prices, insecurity, and other factors.

Vanguard News