(Rivers Map. Photo Credit: Leadership News)
A businesswoman in the Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State is currently undergoing medical treatment following an alleged assault by members of a taskforce attached to the local government council.
Her husband, Ekweme Egwu, has accused the Chairman of Oyigbo Local Government Area of sending officials who @ttacked his wife, Ogechi Ekweme, during an enforcement exercise on July 2.
Egwu, who deals in wholesale drinks, said his wife, a trader in thrift wear and household items, was confronted by council taskforce members over claims that she had displayed some of her wares along the roadside, contrary to a directive prohibiting roadside trading.
Narrating the incident, Egwu said he was attending to customers at his shop, situated almost directly opposite his wife’s business premises, when a resident ran to inform him that taskforce operatives were assaulting her, warning that the local government taskforce was k!lling his wife and beating her.
On getting to the scene, Egwu alleged that he met a member of the taskforce seizing his wife’s mobile phone.
He said he asked that the phone be returned, maintaining that public officials carrying out lawful duties should have no objection to being filmed.
Rather than hand back the device, he alleged that the officials turned on both him and his wife.
Egwu named the leaders of the taskforce as its chairman, Darlington Belema Nwankwo, and secretary, Kennedy Okirie, alleging that they led the operation, and claimed that they, along with other members, @ttacked him and his wife, using knives and axes to wound her.
He further alleged that the taskforce members were armed with knives, axes and firearms, insisting that everyone in the town was familiar with the weapons they typically carried.
Egwu said his wife suffered deep cuts to one of her legs during the attack. She was first taken to a private hospital, which referred her to a government facility owing to the severity of her injuries.
A video obtained by an online news platform showed the wound sustained by the woman.
The couple later reported the matter at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Oyigbo, where they were told, according to Egwu, that a complaint had already been filed against them.
He said the Divisional Crime Officer, upon seeing the extent of his wife’s injuries, issued them a police medical report to enable her treatment.
Egwu said his wife was subsequently admitted to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, where she remains under treatment.
He said she was discharged the previous day but has to return daily due to the shortage of bed spaces.
Beyond the alleged assault, Egwu also accused the local government of sealing his shop, an act he said has cut off his access to his business and his family’s sole source of income.
He is calling for justice and demanding accountability from those responsible for the alleged attack.
Responding to the allegations, the Chairman of Oyigbo Local Government Area, Akara Okechukwu, confirmed that council officials were present at the Egwus’ business premises on the day in question.
Okechukwu said roadside trading has remained a persistent challenge within the local government, noting that his administration had expanded the market to accommodate traders and encourage their relocation from the roadsides.
He said many traders initially complied with the directive and moved into the newly created market spaces, but alleged that after his re-election for a second term, some of them, including the woman at the centre of the controversy, resumed trading along the roadside.
On the allegation that the council sealed the couple’s shops, Okechukwu denied giving such an order, insisting that he neither authorised nor directed that the premises be sealed.
Meanwhile, a video in circulation showed that the shop had indeed been sealed by the taskforce.
