At Umuopara Palm Oil Beach Market in Umuahia South LGA of Abia State, two rival market unions got into a fight that left two people gravely injured and admitted to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC Umuahia.
Since August 2023, the Palm Oil Association of Nigeria and the United Palm Oil Dealers Association have been at odds over who should oversee the market’s income collections and who should be the market’s leader.
However, on Thursday, a violent altercation between the two competing associations sent three members of the United Palm Dealers Association to the hospital, two of whom were critically ill.
Monday Ogunka is the next injured merchant, while the names of those in critical condition are Kingsley Onyemuche and Peter Anyanwu.
Due to the severity of their circumstances, Kingsley Onyemuche and Peter Anyanwu were brought to the FMC, Umuahia’s Casualty and Emergency Ward, while Ogunka was sent to a different department on Monday since his own injuries were deemed to be minor.
Due to a shortage of beds, those in serious circumstances were kept on the hospital floor and given medication injections to help them stay stable.
According to information obtained by DAILY POST, conflict arose in the market on Thursday afternoon about who was entitled to payment from a truck carrying palm oil that was headed for Jos, Plateau State.
Another group said it should collect the money and organize its men to lock the market gate in order to stop the loaded truck from leaving, while one group claimed it was entitled to collect the earnings.
However, an eyewitness who begged to remain anonymous claimed that several thugs who had been allegedly incited by the market’s interim chairman, Chima Ukaegbu, had shown up at the scene and attacked the United Palm Oil Dealers Association members, viciously beating and kicking them.
The eyewitness continued, saying that the invading thugs beat three members of their rivals into a coma, causing two of them to lose consciousness immediately before being taken to the FMC. The eyewitness further stated that the interim chairman is related to a high-ranking official of the Abia State Government.
He continued by saying that the altercation spread fear throughout the market, causing several vendors to lock up and leave, and customers who had come to make purchases to scatter as well.
When the two parties charged one another with endangering the stability of the market, a similar altercation was averted in September of this year.
It was unable to get an answer from Chima Ukaegbu, the acting chairman, regarding the unsightly development.