By Kamsi Anayo
Adulterated goods producers still operating within the Relief Market, Onitsha, Anambra state and its environs, voluntarily risk some jail terms.
The President General of the market, Chief Ndubisi Ochogu read the riot act to both current and intending fake goods producers in the market on Friday .
He advised such people to steer clear of the area in their own interest.
Ochogu had said that the market and its environs were no longer a safe haven for them and vowed to employ all legal means to deal with any fake producer of goods in the area
He regretted the havoc which he said the activities of the said miscreants had caused members of the public, noting that many people had died or had serious health problems as a result of fake and adulterated products.
According to him, many strange sicknesses have been traced to the consumption of uncertified or adulterated products, and warned that anyone caught faking any product in the market would have themselves to blame.
He, therefore, sternly warned companies and individuals who were in the practice of faking goods in the area to better leave the market and relocate elsewhere.
The leader condemned the collection of any form of revenue from companies which he said faked and adulterated goods, saying that his administration had zero tolerance for Illegal revenue collection from individuals that dealt on illegality.
He explained that since he assumed the position of the President General of the market, the issue of stealing and breaking of shops at night had become a thing of the past.
He disclosed that recently a securityman was caught stealing and had long been handed over to the police for investigations.
Ochogu also expressed the readiness of his administration to comply with the directives of the Anambra state government for the good of the traders and the masses.
However, he called on the state government to rehabilitate with dispatch, all roads leading to various markets in the state, adding that traders in the market had started opening for business on Mondays.
He therefore enjoined their customers coming from various states to ignore the fake and negative news about opening of markets on Mondays, saying it was the handiwork of those pressing for the relocation of the market to neighbouring states.
Also corroborating the position of the president general, the Secretary of the market, Mr Uchenna Wisdom Obasi, said that the current administration was working round the clock to ensure proper sanitization of the market.
He pledged their commitment to deal with the issue of saboteurs.
He said that there had been peace and tranquility in the market since the inception of the present administration, pointing out that the usual story of bribery, stealing, intimidation and illegal revenue collection no longer exist in the market.
Obasi consequently implored traders in the market to throw their support behind the administration of Ochogu, describing him as “a disciplined and quintessential gentleman to the core.”
