*Carts away chairs at the venue
*Fish producers, marketers seek Zulum’s intervention
By; SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri
Crisis rocked Baga Road Fish International Market today, as Police disrupted the market congress meeting while in session trying to elect new exco members, raiding the market and congress meeting venues, while shooting teargas at the members and carting away chairs.
The Baga Road Youth and Elders Fish Producers and Marketers Association congress numbering about 8,000 out of the total registered membership of about 13,000 members, who want a new constitutional exco on board and moved to have a new exco, had accused the “forcefully and illegal sitting exco” of dictatorship, refusal to account for N300 million revenue generation for the past 21 years.
It also claimed that police invaded and raided the market congress meeting, shooting teargas, whit allegedly hit an old man after disrupting the meeting and carting away their chairs while seeking the immediate intervention of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum before the situation gets out of control.
The spokesman of the forum who is also the Youth Leader, Abdullahi Alhaji Idi Bako who lamented this on Thursday at a press conference with journalists at the NUJ Press Center Maiduguri, further decried the poor leadership and mismanagement of the activities and revenues of the Baga Road Fish International Market Producers and Marketers Association for a long time without intervention.
He said the association which comprises of both Youth Fish Producers and Marketers Forum, Elders Fish Producers and Marketers Forum and the Board of Trustees, have been in a mess and deserves urgent government attention and intervention before the situation gets out of control as invisible forces are interfering and instigating internal crisis.
He also called on Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’ of Borno State to as a matter of urgency, intervene on the lingering conflicts and attacks on the members of youths and elders of the Fish Producers and Marketers Forums as the situation is bedeviling the survival and sustainability of the famous market and its revenue generation.
Abdullahi added that, “the refusal of the imposed and illegal leadership of the association to vacate office after its first and second constitutional tenure has been expired about 13 years ago was shamelessly rubbished by some internal forces who cannot account for and be responsible to the over N200 million generated by the members in the past 21 years from the N1,500 tax being collected per carton daily.
” Even the over stayed exco are collecting daily levy of N100 on each carton as market revenue and collaborating with the government newly constituted ad hoc committee on.revenue collection selfishly at the market which their presence and activity has been ineffective, selfish and non transparent as well as the N30 million being generated from the N100 bevy being charged daily on every consignment at the market,” Abdullah said
The Leader of the concerned members of the Baga road fish producers and Marketers forums also alleged that the long serving Chairman of the association, Alhaji has been on the seat for over 21 years instead of 4 years single tenure and 8 years second tenure of re-elected Exco oppressing over 13,000 members of the association within and outside the state dictating on them contrary to the provisions of the constitution.
He also accused the Chairman of diversion of over N200 million revenue generated by the fish market members in the past 21 years without accountability at the detriment of the association members.
“We generate daily on every carton of fish in the market tax of N1,500 per carton and N100 levy in each carton for the association, which is both the youth and elders producers and Marketers forums but up till now. All these years we didn’t see any development or progress in the market, neither anybody accounting for the over N30 million which we generate monthly.
“I don’t think government, or Governor Zulum is aware of this embezzlement or fraud, despite the corruptive way and.manner the revenue generated in the market is being mismanaged without transparency and accountability because the leadership of the market association has failed to comply with the provisions of the constitution of the.association and all efforts and procedures to address the illegality through lawful and legal ways have been truncated by political powers or otherwise in the past five years,” Abdullah said.
According to him, “the issue was ever reported to EFCC, NPF DC Headquarters, NSDC, DSS and others by the congress of the fish producers and marketers association but without positive result as the 21 years sitting exco of the fish market association who has been imposing itself on the members and this is tarnishing the image of members not only destroying the.activities of the.assocation.
“Presently, as we hold this press conference, we gathered that over 100 policemen have been deployed to the market and on surveillance round the market depriving buyers and sellers into the market especially, the fish shop and store owners who the producers and Marketers of in the market”, Abdullahi added
Efforts at the time of going to press to get the police headquarters press statement or respond through the Borno State PPRO, ASP Daso Kenneth couldn’t yield any positive result, he replied all phone calls by journalists to him in the matter to comment or give newsmen brief on what transpired at the Baga Road Fish Market, he replied,” I will contact the DPO and get back to you.”
